Succumb To The Darkness
by xXHeartxCindyXx
Summary: On a snowy night, she fell unconscious, and that's when they met. Introduced as exorcists and bookmen, travelling around the globe to record unrecorded history. As they find out that she is an Innocence accommodator; Eliza willingly goes to the Order to become an exorcist. But little did she know, when they first made eye contact, their futures were both drastically changed.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Blood poured from the wound that was inflicted upon the female that had just killed an akuma. It was a level 2; far stronger than she had expected. Strangely, it didn't take her that long to kill it. It might've only been its strength for show, instead of its powers of speed and defence. They were shattered rather quickly by her Innocence; or what is just her Innocence that had high attack power?

As the blood hit the ground and stained it a colour of crimson; the female Innocence bearer, Eliza Rickards, wondered why she didn't feel the virus of akuma spread. Was it just her, or was it something else? She's seen people get hit by akuma from the top of the body to the bottom of it. They all crumbled into ashes, ending up into a pile of gray on the ground. So she wondered how and why she hadn't been reduced to ashes yet. It was what intrigued her about herself and the mysteries of life, but that was about it.

There was nothing more in her life that she found more interesting. Just like how ants crawl up a tree, crawl into houses just to obtain their food. That was how humans were like, too, in her mind. They just walked here and there, getting this and that, talked to this person and that person...it was fairly boring. Something needed to happen to spice up that very life that found it boring. And here she got it - killing akuma.

Quite frankly, she had no idea why she was doing this. It might've spiced up her life and made it more interesting than it already was, but did she get any reward for killing them? One answer. No.

"Damn it..." She cursed, clenching her emerald eyes shut from the immense pain in her leg. Her hair had been taken out of its ponytail by the level 2 akuma, teasing her about being weak and the nonsense.

She could barely walk, since one leg was wounded and the other was bruised badly. She had to stick with limping. Eliza had to find shelter. It was the middle of the night, and the akuma had been stalking her while she came back from the bar after she got some information off some people. Then she killed it.

Limping slowly across the cobblestone streets of Paris, she left a slight trail of blood. Her head was throbbing quite hardly, making her bite her lip softly to try and get her to think of something else. Sadly, it didn't happen and the pain continued.

As she limped, the throbbing of her head became heavier and heavier, making her stumble and trip. She would a few times, but afterwards, she would get back onto her feet and go on.

Suddenly, she had a sudden urge to look at her Innocence, to see if it was alright. Looking at the belt of her slightly ripped up pants, she saw that is was alright and hadn't been damaged. She gave a small sigh of relief, but regretted it when her vision blurred and her consciousness wavering out.

Trying to keep herself awake, she held onto the walls of the buildings, leaving behind a stamp of her hand print, of blood, as she went. But her vision blurred much quicker than the bleeding, and the darkness consumed her, letting her fall onto the cold ground and lie there, as the midnight snow started to fall.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"How are we going to get to the Order?" Eliza asked curiously, wanting to know how. The way that they had talked about the Order and how to get there when she was 'sleeping' sounded pretty complicated. They said that they had to take twists and turns, and that it would take them a while. Eliza thought, surely it wasn't that complicated and hard just to get to one place, right?

She thought wrong.

On the morning that she had woken up, Lavi and the old man, whose name was Bookman, who she heard the name of just before, when he was on the phone, had immediately told her to get dressed and said that they were leaving. She had already noticed that they were already dressed and were ready to go. They were just waiting for her. She hurried up dressing herself, and soon enough, they were on their train ride back to the Order.

Actually, not really...

"How to get to the Order?" Lavi questioned, tilting his head to the side. He stared at her with his curious green eyes, wondering why she would want to know that. But, a thought did pass his mind that Eliza must've been nervous about going there? He placed a hand on her shoulder and grinned. "Don't be nervous, Eliza-chan! We'll protect you!"

In less than a second, Lavi was on the ground, his cheek having a clearly defined fist in it. Eliza towered over him, fury blazing in her own shade of green eyes. She held up her clenched fist, the fire burning lively around it.

"Who's nervous?! Who needs protecting?!" She glowered, glaring down threateningly at Lavi.

He laughed nervously, rubbing his stinging cheek with a fist mark, as he stood back up, brushing himself off in the process. He never saw that coming.

"So, how do we get to the Order?" Eliza asked, her voice sweet and innocent. She was back to 'normal' but she didn't forget about that little incident with Lavi. She just wanted to pass the moment and seem like it never happened.

This time, it was Bookman that answered. "We get there by train."

"Train?" She asked, puzzled. That was quite simple. She recalled that they discussed it being a long journey with many tips and turns. Just like how the food gets all stirred around in a Chinese style stir fry.

"Don't listen to him, Eliza-chan! He's a panda!" Lavi grinned. Eliza raised an eyebrow. Lavi continued, adjusting his bandanna a bit, but Bookman hit him ferociously from the side, kicking him in the face. Lavi yelped before he put a hand on the same cheek that was both kicked and punched in. He whipped around to face Bookman, a frown on his face and fake tears coming from his green eyes. "What was that for, old man?!" He whined. Bookman merely turned away to face the opposite direction. Lavi frowned but turned around to face Eliza, his hand still rubbing the sore spot on his cheek. "Well, Eliza-chan, it doesn't just take train to get there. This is the process to get to the Order from here: First we take the train, then the boat. Afterwards, we take a carriage then take a train again, then switch trains and take a boat. After the boat we have another train to catch and after that, we reach a boat that has to be rowed under some underwater tunnel that leads to the underwater tunnels of the Black Order. There, we walk. It's quite the journey, actually." Lavi finished, explaining it in a clear and definite voice.

Eliza merely stood still, green eyes slightly wide with eyebrows raised.

"Oh, joy…" She muttered.

"…and this is the final destination, the Black Order Headquarters!" Lavi said grandly, grinning as he quickened his pace. Bookman was in front of them, walking quite fast. Eliza never knew old men walked fast. She always thought they walked nice and slow, enjoying the peace. It seemed it was quite the opposite.

Lavi caught up to Bookman and they encountered a huge gate, with a huge face, which had a striped chin. It was speckled with dots, though. That was the Gatekeeper. She had learnt pretty much everything to know about the Order from Lavi and Bookman throughout the journey with all the trains, boats and carriages that they had to take. They had enough spare time on their hands to be able to do so. Eliza wondered why the Gatekeeper had dots. She thought they were hives. What could've caused that?

"Lavi, what happened to the Gatekeepers' chin?" The long haired female asked, staring up curiously at the Gatekeeper.

"I think it was Allen. He's also a new exorcist. You'll meet him a bit later. I think that's why the Gatekeeper got an outbreak of hives…" Lavi trailed off. His eyes shifted from Eliza to the large shield of the Black Order. He spoke up, catching the attention of the Gatekeeper. "Gatekeeper! Can you please let us in? X-ray Eliza, too, if you want to. She's not, though."

The Gatekeeper's eyes scanned across Eliza, looking through her like a normal X-ray. He said his approval and they were in.

"I am Komui Lee, Chief of the European Black Order Branch. It's a pleasure to meet you." Said the Chief. He had purple hair that flicked up at the ends and a white beret. He wore a long Chief Branch coat which was white in colour, and had slippers on his feet. He was so much taller than Eliza, was all she knew. Come to think of it, he was like a giant and she was like the small little insect that it stared down upon. She silently shuddered.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you, too." Eliza said, a small smile on her lips. Komui put out his larger than for a handshake. The black haired adult shook his hand.

"Come on around; I'll show you around the place since Lenalee's not here." Komui said, turning around. He started walking to the stairs that were a few metres away. Eliza followed.

She had a sinking feeling that people all around the Order were just going to mention people's names – ones that she didn't know – and she won't get an explanation until she met them herself. So half the things they say - basically she won't get it.

As Eliza followed Komui to the stairs which went down, she heard another pair of footsteps behind her. Turning around, she met the eyes of the flaming red-head. Almost immediately, she frowned.

"Why are you following me?" Eliza asked, suspicious.

"I'm not following you. I'm following Komui. I need to do the mission report…Eliza-_chan_." Lavi's lips immediately went to a grin. Eliza scowled, then fastened her step to catch up to Komui.

Damn you, Komui…having such long legs…makes you walk faster! Eliza cursed.

Once they were down the stairs, they went onto an elevator in the middle of the whole building. See, in Eliza's view, the building was like a tunnel. But a tunnel that wasn't a tunnel. It was an upwards tunnel, just with many floors for different facilities and other things that she probably didn't know about, yet. The elevator was similar to those magic carpets seen in fictional story books. Typically, it could float and travel to anywhere you wanted. But, the elevator was like that, in terms of floating, but only up and down; nothing special. Once the trio reached the lowest floor, they hopped off and approached a large figure that was womanlike, but had the form of a glowing white ghost (or similar to that anyway). Komui had explained it to Eliza when they were going down the elevator. He said that the ghost like figure was an exorcist named Hevlaska. He explained what Hevlaska did and what they were bringing her down there for.

Komui patted Eliza lightly on the shoulder so that she stepped forward a few steps. "Go on. Hevlaska's not scary." Eliza shot him a glance as she stared up at the huge monstrous being. Monstrous would've been mean to say, but she couldn't help it! Hevlaska was _huge_ in size.

"Um…ok?" She squeaked.

White tentacle like arms began to take shape and slowly make their way towards Eliza. She took a step back, alert. It was strange, very strange. It reminded her of a jellyfish; just not a jellyfish. Hevlaska's 'arms' wrapped loosely around Eliza's arms and both legs, bringing her up with little to no strength and making her close to her half covered face. Eliza stared up, her green eyes slightly wide. It felt as if nothing were below her, nor with her – just the presence of someone with her. Eliza saw that Hevlaska close up didn't look much like a monster. She was a gentle creature, very soft with others and gave off an aura of meaning no harm. Eliza was brought from far away to closer and closer to Hevlaska. Their foreheads touched. Eliza felt as if something was in her mind, penetrating all her thoughts and memories, but at the same time, it didn't. She heard Hevlaska say a few words, no, not words, numbers. She was counting. But counting what?

"…50%...64%...68%...71%...74%." Hevlaska put Eliza down on to the spot she was in before she picked her up.

"74% synchronization?" Komui asked, writing something down onto the clipboard paper. Eliza noticed that he didn't have that before. Just how fast _was _this guy?

"74% synchronization? What do you mean?" Eliza asked, curiosity sparking inside her. Komui turned to the younger girl, his clipboard at his side.

"It means that you are 74% synchronized with your Innocence. Hevlaska was just checking what kind of Innocence you had and what synchronization rate, too. She can also do fortunes, and they're pretty accurate. Actually, we haven't had a false one from her." Komui smiled. Eliza only nodded.

"Komui…There is something oddly strange about this girl's past and her future." Hevlaska said, her voice of a deep female and slow. Eliza whipped to face her. What did that exorcist just say? That she was strange? What was she going on about?

"Is there a prophecy?" Komui asked. Hevlaska nodded slowly.

"This girl – Eliza Rickards – will become the central of both." Hevlaska paused and added, "That is what I have prophesized."

Komui stared at her, unblinking. "What do you mean, Hevlaska? What is the meaning to that?"

"I cannot foretell." She replied.

Komui was silent for a second, before he smiled at her. "Thank you, Hevlaska. We'll be going now."

They hopped back on to the elevator and rode back up, to the highest floor. Komui said that he would be the one who would lead Eliza around for a tour of the Black Order, since she still needs to know everything.

As they toured around, the thought of what Hevlaska said stayed in Eliza's mind, sitting there like a stone statue. She wondered what the cube exorcist meant. It was strange and eerie – as if something would happen. She didn't know what, though. She guessed she would need to wait and see.

"Hevlaska said that Eliza was the 'central of both'." Lavi reported to Bookman. Bookman hadn't gone with the three of them when they went down to Hevlaska and toured around the Black Order. He had his own jobs to do.

Bookman's eyes shifted from the koi fish in the pond to Lavi, who sat beside him. They were outside in the afternoon. It was quite serene and peaceful.

"Is that so?" Bookman stared at the koi fish again.

"Yeah. Don't know what Hevlaska means, though." Lavi frowned, propping his elbow on his leg and putting his cheek against his hand. He probably wouldn't get what it meant until it happened. There's no explaining what it could possibly be.

"We'll just have to wait and see, then." Bookman stood up. "Come on, Lavi."

Lavi followed Bookman back into the Order. Heavy thoughts in his mind, he wondered why Eliza had such a prophecy. He thought and thought, his mind jumping from one thing to another. In the end, he gave up. It was no use. Just like both Bookman and him said before, 'We'll see when the time comes'. Lavi sighed and ran his hand through his soft yet somewhat spikey hair.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"…and this is the medical ward." Komui explained, taking a sip from his coffee mug. It was decorated with this funny looking pink bunny. Eliza found it quite cute. Thing was, was that during the tour of the Black Order, Komui hadn't gone off to get anything. Funny thing is, is that he had a mug in his hand. Maybe he went and got it when she wasn't looking? Or maybe…he _teleported._ Eliza shook her head. That was definitely not true. Plus, no such thing existed in this world.

"Is that all?" She asked, her thoughts straying away from the coffee mug and Komui. The supervisor nodded.

"You're free to do whatever you please. But before that, I want to check your Innocence. Follow me." Komui walked off to the side and down the stairs. The black haired woman followed after him at a quicker pace, trying to catch up. He was so tall, and him being tall mean that he had long legs. Long legs meant that he could walk with longer strides. Things just don't work out for Eliza.

He led her in front of a door and opened it, revealing a room with much equipment and storage shelves that were white in colour. In the middle of the room there was a long rectangular table, which resembled a surgery table in a hospital. There were a few chairs stacked in the corner. Komui grabbed two of them and put them on both sides of the table, before sitting on one of them and telling Eliza to sit on the other. She did so.

Placing his coffee mug down on to the white table, he met Eliza's green eyes. "Can you show me your Innocence?" He asked.

Nodding only once, she un-clicked her Innocence from the chain that connected it to her belt and placed it gently on the table. "Here." She pushed it forward a few centimetres.

Komui picked it up and stared at it, examining the detail. After a few minutes, he placed it back down and pushed it towards Eliza. "Can you invoke it?"

She nodded, before staring at the Innocence. "Innocence; invoke." She whispered, touching the small form of Innocence. The hammer and spike ball grew larger and larger in pulsing moments, before it reached its full length and size. It neatly fitted the table; it wasn't too big or too small. It was just the right size, a little bit shorter than the length of the table, though.

Komui nodded in approval before he examined the larger detail of the Innocence hammer and spike ball more carefully than before. His eyes narrowed and widened at different times. Eliza watched in silence as Komui inspected her Innocence. She didn't know people could examine Innocence. She eyed Komui; did he know a lot about Innocence?

She mentally sighed. She still had a lot to learn, about him, about Lavi and Bookman, about everything else, and the Black Order. She just hoped that it wasn't too confusing. If it was, her brain would probably shut down from override of information.

"This Innocence is an equipment type." Komui explained, touching it and skimming it lightly against the hammer's surface before letting his hand slide down onto the table.

"Tell me something I don't already know." Eliza propped her chin against her hand as her elbow went against the white table.

Komui stared at her, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Alright. This equipment type was formed outside of the knowing of the Order. It wasn't merged into a weapon by the help of the Black Order scientists."

"Lavi already told me." The green eyes female stated bluntly.

"Hm…" Komui took a sip of his coffee. "Right. Do you mind if we borrow your Innocence for a while?" He shot a glance at Eliza.

She nodded. "Sure. Better give it back, though." She crossed her arms and looked at the invoked Innocence. "De-activate." She whispered.

Her Innocence shrunk back to its original size, just smaller than her palm and nodded to Komui. "Take it."

Komui smiled a small smile, taking the Innocence and placing it into his pocket. "I will." He stood up and put his chair back on the stacked pile, before doing the same with Eliza's chair. She had gotten off and stood next to the door. The Black Order supervisor opened the door and they were out.

"Reever, come here!" Komui called into the science laboratory.

Scientists from different station looked at the supervisor, both alert and confusion shone in their eyes. A tall blonde man weaved through the bunch of scientists and to the front, standing in front of the supervisor. He had light bags under his eyes, shouting out that he was sleep depraved. The blonde man wore a white lab coat, like all the other scientists, but with a few extra things. Eliza guessed he was the Chief of the science division.

"Reever, this is Eliza." Komui cocked his head to Eliza. Everyone's eyes landed on her, a few blinking, and some in acknowledgement.

Reever nodded. "Ah. So you're the new exorcists. It's a pleasure to meet you." Reever put out his hand for a shake. Eliza shook it.

"Her Innocence needs to be examined. Here." Komui took out Eliza's Innocence and handed it carefully to Reever. He took it and examined it closely with his two eyes.

"Ah…" He said after a few moments. His eyes looked up to meet Eliza's, before he spoke again. "We'll have to examine this one for a few days. Don't go on any missions and just get used to HQ, ok?" Before Eliza could even nod, Reever was off doing his own work.

"Come on, Eliza. I'll show you your individual room." Komui motioned Eliza to go to the elevator, which they took up to the highest level of the tower. The pair got off safely and Komui led the way to a room that looked exactly the same as all the other rooms. Eliza got confused the more she looked around in the highest floor.

She wondered how the hell Komui managed to even remember which room was which!

"This is your room." The supervisor opened the wooden oak doors to one of the rooms and walked in, Eliza walking in behind him. She looked around at her surroundings, which wasn't that much as it wasn't decorated.

The walls were the colour of pale beige and the ceiling was a pure white. There was a new bed on the right side of the room, up against the wall with the white sheets neatly folded at the end of the bed. Next to the bed was a small square table, with two draws that most likely held nothing in it. On the left side there was a wardrobe made of beautifully carved oak wood and waxed. A window was placed directly opposite the entry door, with plain yellow curtains drawn back. Needless to say, the room was simple and plain.

Komui saw Eliza's expression change to one that raised eyebrows. He laughed. "You can decorate the room however you like. It's like that for newcomers." Komui took a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah…now tell me how you can tell each room apart from each?" Eliza crossed her arms.

That was one of the questions that _had _to be answered. Why? Because she would probably never ever find it again after leaving it for a minute.

Komui took another sip of his nicely brewed coffee and walked outside, the 18 year old following behind him. Once they were outside, Komui pointed to the door. "Here. That's how you can tell."

"Tell what?" Eliza looked closely to see what he was pointing at. She saw a number, but she couldn't tell. What number it was. "Numbers?" She questioned.

"Yes, numbers. There's only one number though. The one you see is a '0'. A zero. The next one in line, for the next room, is the number 1." Komui explained, turning his body around to point to the next room.

"I'm not stupid that I don't know the consecutive number to 0." Eliza said bluntly, pouting. Why did everyone think she had no brain?

Komui put a hand in his pocket and took out a clock, which he put back after a second of looking at it. "Anyway, Eliza, I've got to go. You can explore around this place for the time being, ok? Lenalee will come after a few hours. She'll know who you are, I think." With that last sentence, Komui was gone, down the descending elevator and into the darkness.

Eliza stared after him, her mind blank. She had no idea what to do. What _did _they even do when they were bored? She sighed, annoyance hinted in her voice.

"Oh, great…" She mumbled. Suddenly, a thought went off in her head. "Ah! Why don't I go annoy Lavi?" She asked herself.

She found a grin spread on her features. This was going to be fun.

Lavi's hands were neatly in his pockets as he strolled around Black Order HQ. It was quiet because Lenalee, Kanda and Allen weren't there. He was stuck with old man Bookman, the science people and Eliza Rickards.

Eliza Rickards…

That name repeated in his head. She was a strange person. Had a strange personality, but was cute. Lavi raised an eyebrow, stopping and blinking a few times. What was he thinking? He shook his head and continued his pace.

The red head's mind was still focused on Eliza. He had no idea why he even thought of her. It was strange. They only met a day or so ago, and she was already trespassing in his thoughts! What an accomplishment.

Suddenly, a gust of wind went by and Lavi's bandanna fell down half way down his face. He took his hands out of his pockets and adjusted the bandanna so that it was the original style that he represented, before turning around and peering down the hallway.

What was that? He asked himself.

He looked around for another second before he put his hands on his lower back. He felt his fingers brush against something, something unfamiliar. He froze and checked on his Innocence, taking it out. Instead of finding Innocence there, a small white mouse was in its place, gnawing on a small block of cheddar. Lavi's eyes stared at the mouse, his mind blank.

"Hey, Lavi!" He heard Eliza shout, catching his attention. The voice was from behind him, making him turn around on his heel and look at her, wondering what she wanted.

Eliza stood at the opposite end of the hallway, about 50 metres away from Lavi, holding something up with her two fingers. She dangled it and grinned. "Lavi, aren't you missing something?" She asked. After a seconds' thought, she ran off, jumping down and swinging from the rails to the floor below.

Suddenly, he recollected his thoughts, finding himself running down the hallway and chasing after Eliza.

"COME BACK HERE!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As Lavi sprinted after Eliza, only one thought raced through his mind: What was she going to do with his Innocence? He could think of all the possible unfortunate things happening, but her taking it was one of the worst, too. He remembered, long ago, Bookman's words to him about his Innocence, just before joining the Black Order.

"You must never let someone else other than the science crew to take your Innocence. You may never know, they may be an ally of the Millennium Earl."

Somebody else taking his Innocence? Check. Someone that might be an ally of the Millennium Earl? Check. The science crew not having his Innocence? Check.

HOLY CRAP.

He raced after her, jumping and swinging from floor to floor, seeing the black haired girl swiftly turn a corner before he raced after her, then saw her turn another. He realized, after running so much around the Black Order, she was going around in the same place. The red head though up of a plan, slightly smirking to himself.

Well, it would work out.

Eliza grinned as she saw Lavi's flaming red hair in the distance. Although he was hot on her heels, she managed to get away, lightly puffing. She was used to all this running; not because she was some athlete, but because she's run away from several gangs of akuma around where she lived. Out running Lavi would be a piece of cake.

"YOU CAN'T GET ME NOW!" She shouted, dangling his Innocence in front of her face. She saw Lavi's head perk up and him charge towards her with his little energy reserve left. The green eyed female scooted out of the way, letting him nearly fall off the rails as she went the other way, leaving him there to balance himself out.

Instead of running, Eliza skipped along the hallway, waiting for Lavi to come after her. Funny thing was, was that the red head didn't, making her confused. Eliza stopped for a brief second and scanned around, trying to see if there were any noises that she could hear. She heard nothing.

This is too suspicious...she thought. Taking a small step back and continuing her way to the end of the hallway, she stopped short before hurrying to the corner and looking diagonally up. Her green eyes darted side to side, down and up, seeing nothing. She did the same to the other side, before she decided it was safe to go out, but with precautions.

Taking a step out, then another, she quickly scooted back into the hallway where she stood before, having heard a noise. Something hit the ground and yelled out in pain, catching Eliza's eyes. She stood with her hand on her hip, the other holding onto the Innocence in her small palm.

She sighed, shaking her head slowly from side to side as she stared at the red head that had fallen from the assumed 'sky'. She threw up the Innocence once before catching it again, making her way over to Lavi and kneeling down, ruffling his soft red hair and grinning.

Although Lavi was in pain, his arms, legs and buttocks hurting from the fall from where he was just hiding, he looked up slightly and met Eliza's green eyes as he felt her ruffle his hair. Wasn't it a chase? He was surprised she didn't skip away like all the other times that he nearly got her. He could've moved anytime he wanted to, but he wanted to know what she would do, since she wasn't 'running away'.

"Thanks for a good workout, Lavi. It was fun." Eliza contently said, placing his Innocence in front of him. She lifted herself up and walked off, finding something else to do.

Once she was gone out of Lavi's site, he quickly got up and put his Innocence back where it belonged, lightly rubbing where he was sore. He was quite surprised at that side of Eliza. He thought of her as a rude, ignorant, inquisitive but cute girl at first meeting, but first impressions weren't all that knowing.

"Hah!" Lavi stood up and brushed himself off of the dust and went off.

She was definitely something else.

"Hello, I'm Lenalee Lee; the supervisor's little sister." A tall pig tailed female with dark hair and eyes smiled up at Eliza, having approached her just before. Eliza blinked before she smiled and nodded, recognizing the name 'Lenalee' that Komui had spoken about.

"It's nice to meet you, Lenalee! I'm Eliza Rickards – a new exorcist to the Order." Eliza held out her hand for a shake, which Lenalee happily shook.

"Komui told me that you'd need some company for the time that your Innocence is being inspected and examined, am I right?" She asked. Eliza merely nodded. She knew a lot, she thought. Lenalee nodded, looking straight ahead, then back at the newcomer. "Whilst your Innocence is getting examined, I'll tell you more about the Order once we sit down at the cafeteria. I'm famished."

Eliza was amazed at the bubbliness of this female girl. She forgot if Komui said if Lenalee was an exorcist or not – but she _did _remember him saying that she was on a mission. She came to a conclusion. Lenalee was an exorcist. No doubt about it.

The pair of girls made their way to the cafeteria, Lenalee ordering her food. They sat down at a spot which was free and Lenalee began to eat in small bites, being in conversation with Eliza for half the time. They talked about the history of the Black Order, how it was founded and what the exorcists did there, who the exorcists were, what the Millennium Earl did, that kind of stuff. A quarter of the stuff that Lenalee explained to Eliza was new to her, new information that she didn't know about the Black Order.

Once the meal had been finished by Lenalee, she put the empty plates away and they began to walk to Komui's office because Lenalee needed to fill out the report for her mission that she had just returned from.

Lenalee finished her report while explaining to Eliza what to do with the reports. She also explained that she needed a uniform to signal that she was an exorcist. Eliza's head was loaded with tonnes of information about the Black Order; it felt as if her head would explode.

After Eliza got her uniform, which was similar to Lenalee's but with pants instead of a skirt, Eliza was called into Komui's office. She spotted him in the science area, though, instead of his office. Lenalee tagged along.

"Komui, what did you call me for?" The green eyes adult asked.

Komui looked over to his side and smiled, pushing up his glasses. "You're Innocence had been examined. You're free to use it now." He looked around for a brief second before shouting, "Reever!"

A blonde scientist came out from behind Komui, holding Eliza's Innocence. He was instructed to hand it over to Eliza from Komui, which he obeyed and gave.

"Eliza, you're going to be on your first mission. But, this mission will be with Lavi, since he hasn't been on a mission." Komui said with a straight face, his tone serious and orderly.

Eliza raised her eyebrows slightly. "He told me he was on a mission. Lavi, I mean." She said, slightly confused.

Komui shook his head once. "He wasn't on a mission. What he was on was a scouting for where akuma could possibly be hiding, and to put finders where we need them so that they can report back to us where the akuma are lurking. In short, it wasn't a mission." Komui concluded.

Eliza slowly nodded. "Right…"

Komui continued, "Anyway, your first mission will be with Lavi. Bookman cannot come along because he's busy, so it's just you and him. Don't worry. It won't be awkward. Not at all."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Eliza's eye twitched when Komui said that. She was tempted to growl back at him, but there was a chance that she'd get on his bad side, then everything she did he'd be on her case, telling her off and making her do this, do that. She didn't want that. It'd make life hell of a lot easier if people didn't do that. And she wasn't planning on doing that. Hierarchy and education stumps age.

The black haired adult managed to say, "What do you mean, awkward?!" She demanded, trying to get her tone to be normal. Unfortunately for her it didn't come out that way, coming out sharper than she thought, with hinted irritation and annoyance.

Komui looked taken aback, moving his head back a bit. Regardless of her tone, Komui continued on explaining. "You will be going to the outskirts of Greece. Lavi has the papers, already. Anyway, there have been hoards of akuma groups there. There may be Innocence there." Komui finished.

Eliza nodded slowly. "Right. So where is Lavi?"

"Looking for me?" A familiar voice asked, from behind. Eliza immediately frowned.

"Yeah. Looking for you my butt. I was asking for you. If I was looking for you, I'd be searching around the Order, wouldn't I?" Eliza crossed her arms, fully frowning. She didn't like it when people appeared behind her when she was asking for them, then they get it wrong.

Lavi laughed lightly, walking next to her and meeting Komui's eyes. "Komui." He bowed his head lightly to show respect.

"Be careful, you two." The Black Order supervisor warned. "You may go now." And he dismissed them.

"So what's the mission?" Eliza asked, peering at the sheets of paper in a black clipboard as they walked down the town streets of Greece. Lavi looked to his side, showing the papers to her.

"There is a bunch of akuma in the outskirts of Greece, just like what Komui said to you before. I'm sure there is no recorded phenomenon." Lavi summarized, closing the clipboard.

"Ah. But aren't we in the town of Greece?" The black haired girl asked. Lavi nodded.

"That's right. We're going to catch the train to the outskirts of Greece. There is only one that goes there, so if we miss that, we've got to bunk here." Lavi shrugged. "Not that it would be bad at all~…"

Eliza punched him in the shoulder, making Lavi wince. "Shut up."

Lavi grinned. This was his first mission with Eliza. Surprisingly enough, it's gone the way he wanted, just with a little more of a punch than usual. At least he didn't get smashed to the ground like before. He didn't want to feel the pain again.

He started to whistle gently, gaining the small attention of some bystanders as the two exorcists walked past. "This is going to be interesting~."

Arriving at the outskirts of the town that they were to go to, they discussed what they had to do there before they went off to go to the town itself.

"So, uh, didn't Komui say that you had all the information?" Eliza asked, turning to face Lavi as they walked side by side down the country road to the town entrance. Lavi turned to face her, before nodding.

"Yeah. Do you want me to tell you the info?" He asked.

"Why the hell did I even ask, then?" Eliza frowned.

"Say please~…" Lavi coaxed. Eliza's brows furrowed and she lifted an arm, about to punch him yet again for being stupid. But, in time, Lavi caught her arm by the wrist and grinned. "Gotch—OOF!"

Wrong.

Eliza kicked him in the shins, making Lavi let go of her wrist. "Serves you right!" She fumed, crossing her arms crossly as she hurried her steps so that she was just a mere metre away from Lavi.

Lavi stopped and held on to his shins, rubbing it gently as he felt the pain pulse through his leg. He laughed, in pain. He was never going to get the end of it. She'd kick or punch him in every way every time he said something that was a joke. "Ahaha…yeah…I'm in pain now…kiss it all better?"

"Hmph! Like I care! AND NO!" Eliza kept on walking, her fuse about to blow yet again if Lavi tried to use those pickup lines again. Eliza realized that he had done that from the very start of their meeting. She could very well hate him by now, but it was too early to judge.

After walking for a few minutes at a fast pace, Eliza stopped and turned around, seeing if Lavi was far away. He wasn't that far off, but he was about 10 metres away from where his female companion stood now. Slightly limping, Lavi managed to catch up to Eliza.

"Sa~ It was nice of you to wait for me." Lavi grinned at Eliza.

"Psh. In your dreams, reddy." Eliza eyed him from the side of her eye, seeing his eyes on her, his lips still in a wide grin. She had the urge to wipe that cheeky grin off his face, but at the same time, she didn't want to. But at least she tried, although failing.

"Yup. In my dreams, that's what happens." Lavi poked his tongue out, seeing Eliza turn to him with such speed it was almost as fast as lightning. He winked at her, seeing her cheeks go a cherry pink before she whipped around again. But as she turned around, she slapped him on the face, leaving a sore red hand mark there to indicate that she had hit him. Lavi's mouth opened and his happiness turned to that of surprise and shock.

"What was _that _for?" Lavi complained, staring at her with disbelief. She had hit him again! How many times was he going to get hit? He had a guess that it was going to be every minute he was with her. Sometimes, he felt sorry for himself.

"Look, stop hitting on me. It's rather irritating." Eliza bluntly put her thoughts into words, wanting to wring his neck at the same time to actually _make _him stop. Her voice was on the edge and her tone was vicious.

This time, Lavi didn't respond, much to Eliza's happiness, and they continued on their walk down to the town where their mission was taking place.

"Sa~…Now we'll search for clues. Do you want to split up or…?" Lavi looked at Eliza, wanting a direct answer. Eliza shrugged.

"Whatever is suitable?" She was unsure. Being at a new place, at a new point in time, with a new person; it was all so strange. Although there was a high possibility that she'd get lost, and that Lavi would hit on her yet again when they were together, she couldn't exactly take the option of splitting up and going on solo. She'd probably get lost and die…

"We'll go together, then, since you'll probably get lost in this place." Lavi decided. Eliza faced him, about to snap at him for saying that he had no trust in her. "This is actually quite a big place itself, anyway, so I'd get lost too. So, just in case we both get lost, we'd stay together so that we're able to find each other instead of search." Lavi added.

The black haired young adult looked at Lavi, surprised that he'd actually said something like that. She didn't even know he was capable of talking this kind of way. The one she knew was goofy and always off topic. Strangely, to Eliza, it was a new twist in Lavi's personality. Were there other layers of his personality that are clouded by that of his goofiness? It seemed so; Eliza had misread him.

"Yeah. That's fine. Where should we go search for first?" She asked the taller red haired man, observing his changed behaviour.

"Normally we find any finders that were dispatched from the Black Order to go to this very town. If we can't find any finders then we go find a different person to get information out of," Lavi paused, "But that rarely happens, and the finders are there to greet us when we arrive." His mossy green eyes took a sharp look around. "But there seems to be no finder…do you want to go search for them?"

Eliza shrugged. "As long as we get some information then that's fine."

Lavi grinned. "Sa~…let's go then."

At the changed tone of voice, Eliza looked up, seeing the old Lavi that she had knew. Although they hadn't been companions for long, she noticed that he already had many different personalities that he could take on. She had to say – it was quite formidable to have many different personalities when trying to get information out of people. Was that the reason why Lavi was like that? She had a random guess, but it doesn't seem like it was the answer.

"Hello, exorcist-dono. I am François. It's nice to finally meet you two." A tall and slim finder bowed his head in respect to the two exorcists that had just found him walking around the corner. He had ash blonde hair that was short and slightly curly, which was hidden under the finders' uniform hood that he wore to keep his head warm.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you too." Eliza nodded, smiling at the taller man.

"Sa~…now let's get moving. We should go inside and discuss all this stuff. It's confidential~!" Lavi said, grinning.

"This way, exorcist-dono, then." François turned around from the way he came, leading Lavi and Eliza to a small cottage like house. "We shall go in. There is much to discuss." After speaking those words, it sent a chill down Eliza's spine.

Eliza had a feeling his words meant more than what they actually meant.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

François opened the wooden oak door and let Lavi and Eliza in, before closing it shut and letting the exorcists make themselves comfortable before they sat down around a wood table to discuss the topic and mission.

"So you said you had something to say to us?" Lavi started, propping his elbow on the table and leaning his cheek against his palm.

François slightly shifted in his seat, looking quite uncomfortable. Lavi and Eliza took interest in why he was that way.

"Hey – why're you so fidgety?" Eliza bluntly asked, showing complete honesty in her question. François glanced at her for a brief second before lightly laughing nervously, rubbing the back of his head before he set his hands on the table, trying to not fidget or shift to look like he was uncomfortable. Truth was, he really wasn't. He just had a bad habit.

"It's a bad habit of mine; sorry if it is annoying." François apologized.

"Yeah, it's really annoying but continue with what you were going to say." Eliza smiled.

The Finder blinked once, staring at the black haired adult in slight surprise. What raced through his mind was; _she actually said that it was annoying. She didn't have to be that _blunt!

"Are you going to tell us or not?" Eliza frowned, crossing her arms.

François came back to reality and cleared his throat, about to talk. He began, his words dripping with seriousness. "This town has had several akuma attacks recently. It's been killing off many of the towns' civilians in many crowds every month or so – it's scaring the community. And no, it doesn't stop there. The akuma come in large hoards, trying to kill everyone in sight. Strangely, though, they do not target houses but target those who are on the streets coincidently; it is quite strange." François paused before continuing again, "It started a month ago."

"…so, uh…what we do is, is that we try and destroy all the akuma?" Eliza questioned. She saw now point in there being akuma. It was the source of the main root of trouble, wasn't it? If they got rid of it, so would their problem.

"It's not that simple. I am sure that there is a reason why the akuma aren't destroying the houses." The Finder said. "There may be Innocence."

"What? A house bearing Innocence? Psh! What could it do? Move to a different location?" Eliza joked, laughing it off. He was so serious sometimes.

"Actually, that's what it's doing." François raised an eyebrow, "How did you know?"

She stopped laughing and her eyes widened. "What?! You mean it's true?" François nodded. "Holy Mother of God!" She shook her head before she was more focused. "Right, so you're saying that a moving house is running loose?"

"Yeah."

"And it's the Innocence?"

"Most likely."

"And that is why the akuma don't attack it?"

"Yeah."

"What a bunch of bull." Eliza rolled her eyes. "That is so weird."

"Well that is the phenomenon. Weird things happen." François scowled lightly. Eliza's irritable behaviour was somewhat annoying to him. He found it confusing how Lavi, the other exorcist and Bookman, was able to even keep up with her!

François turned to Lavi. Lavi stared at him, tilting his head to the side, wondering what he stared for. "Exorcist-dono, may you please explain to her that this is no laughing matter, be it real or not."

"But she's not laughing." Lavi pointed out.

François chewed his bottom lip, trying again. "Then may you please tell her that these occurrences aren't _weird_. But _normal_."

"But it's weird and not normal. You mean that when there is Innocence, everything goes weird and not normal. It isn't not weird and it isn't not normal." Lavi shrugged.

François flipped. "Argh! Just tell her that this is serious and it isn't something to question!" He snapped.

The two exorcists were quiet but nodded, glancing at each other for a second before standing up. "Well, then, see ya. We're going round town to see to any new info~!" The two said simultaneously.

"Get back to normal, François! You need to hibernate!" Eliza grinned, escaping out the door, slamming it behind her.

On the other side of the closed door, a Black Order Finder quietly fumed…

"Psh. I knew it was true. I was just toying with him a bit. Is that such a crime?" Eliza whined, kicking a rock as she passed by it.

Lavi chuckled. "Well, it depends."

The female exorcist pouted. "Hmph! Anyways, to get off topic…where do we find extra info?"

"We got all the info we need. All we just need to do is find the moving house." Lavi continued, "And I know just where we'll find it."

"Where?"

"I have no idea."

"Then don't lie!" Eliza punched Lavi in the stomach. "You're useless!"

Lavi grimaced at the pain, doubling over as he felt the pain. Damn, she didn't hold back…

After a few hours of searching, they found a suspicious house. Well, the only thing suspicious about it was probably the dirt all around it. It seemed like it had moved, so they went and checked it out. Strangely, the door was unlocked when they knocked on it.

"Hah? Who would unlock their doors when there could be strangers about to come in for a robbery or a kill?" Eliza frowned.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Lavi called out into the house, after opening the door. There was no answer. He repeated, "Is anybody there? Hellooooo?"

"It isn't working." Eliza pointed out. "Stop being stupid, reddy."

"You two, what are you doing outside my house?" A girly female voice intruded. Eliza and Lavi's eyes widened and they turned around to see a small girl with a round face, very cute, with big blue eyes. She had a golden blonde hair which was tied in pigtails on both sides, covered with a cute red hat with a single pink flower that was tied around under her chin to ensure it from falling. The smaller figure was fitted into a short sleeved red dress, outlined with black and slightly frilly at the bottom. She wore knee high red socks and black shoes with a white fluff ball stuck on the tip. She held a small basket, full of colourful red, blue and black berries.

"We're just here to ask about some stuff." Lavi smoothly said, covering up his surprise with his 'smooth' talking.

"About what, mister?" She asked.

"I think we should talk inside? It's confidential." The red head spoke.

A few seconds passed, before the blonde spoke, sighing lightly. "Alright, then. Come in."

"Why was your door left open and unlocked?" Eliza asked, curiosity sparking inside her. She had been dying to know the answer ever since she got to the house, after discovering that it wasn't locked.

"I was out picking berries. I wasn't going to be that long, so I thought it'd be alright to leave it open. Plus, it's a bother to open it time and time again, when I'd be back soon." The female spoke.

"So, Miss…" Lavi paused, wanting to fill in the gap. But in order to do so, he'd need the girl's name.

"Yvonne." The blonde filled in.

"Miss Yvonne. Has there been anything strange with this house?" Lavi asked.

Yvonne was silent for a second, before shrugging. "I don't know. There's been stuff happening, but I'm sure it's been happening everywhere."

"What's been happening?" The red head continued.

"Random loud noises outside of the house; it's so weird." Yvonne said, shaking her head. "Can I ask you two a question?"

"Go for it." Eliza rested her cheek against her hand.

"Who are you? Where are you from? I haven't seen you around." Yvonne narrowed her eyes slightly, suspicious of the two.

Lavi stood up and moved the scarf out of the way. "Black Order."

Realization crossed Yvonne's blue eyes and she gasped. "Oh, my! I'm terribly sorry for treating you like this! I never realized!" She apologized.

"Yeah~ a lot of people are like that…now why did you hesitate before you answered?" Eliza asked, getting straight to the point. She didn't want to waste any more time than she already had, just discussing stuff. Like before, discussing stuff to François, it took quite a while. Eliza didn't like wasting time.

Lavi sat back down, putting his scarf back into its usual position. He watched Yvonne with his green eyes, inspecting her movements, observing if it were suspicious or not; if she may be hiding something. But, he saw nothing.

"That was because I didn't know if I could trust you two or not." The girl replied, playing with her curls. She let go of them, before staring into the green eyes of both exorcists. "What else? If you don't have anything more to ask, I'm going to make my mixed berry tart, if you don't mind."

"Alright, then. You know how you said that there were 'random noises' outside the house? What did you mean by that?" Eliza asked. Her intuition spoke to her, giving a big loud message that it was something related to the towns' attracted akuma.

"The random noises…" Yvonne slightly shuddered, remembering the moments that it had happened. "Those random noises were noises that sounded like gun shots – but at a louder and more deafening sound. I…I heard people screaming, punching and trying to kick down doors to get to safety, but most of them didn't survive, and ended up…I don't know. I don't know what happened. I don't know what happened to them!" The blonde shook her head before she covered her face with her hands, before delicate and gentle sobbing was heard.

"Yvonne…?" Eliza whispered, surprised at the younger girls' reaction to those 'random noises'. Eliza had seen how she curled up, afraid and feeble after explaining. She had a feeling that there was more to the story than meets the eye.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Yvonne…Yvonne, tell me what happened." Eliza said gently, talking in a calm and gentle voice. She tried to coax her into talking more, and to be unafraid of what she was explaining.

Lavi scratched his head, not knowing what to do. At times like these, situations like these, he didn't know what to do. He didn't know and still doesn't know how to handle girls…

The blonde sobbed once, before wiping the tears away with her finger. Her eyes were still a little teary. "I…I was too scared to move. I thought that they'd get me, too. I didn't dare open the window. It was so scary. There were so many people…so many people thumping down onto the ground after many shots…it was horrendous…"

"Did you see what the people who used the guns were?" Eliza asked, slightly confused about the guns part.

"N-No…I didn't open the windows, see, and it was real dark outside…because it was the middle of the night…I was sleeping then those noises started and everything and everyone just started to panic." Yvonne took a shaky breath, before continuing. "I waited…and waited. I waited until the morning. It came, really slowly, and the shooting subsided after 1 hour. I was afraid…afraid that they'd come back and shoot again, so I waited till morning. But when I got outside…nothing was there – no one was there – except for clothes lying around with grey ashes. It was so strange; it scared me…frightened me and the others." Yvonne bit her lip gently.

"Others? Who are the others?" Lavi asked, securing his role in asking something. He didn't want Eliza to do all the work – it wasn't her that interrogated Yvonne – it was him too.

"You mean 'were'." Yvonne corrected, looking at Lavi.

"Huh? Why's that?" He asked.

"I'm referring to them as past tense because they _were _here, but now they're not. They're gone. The last time those gun shots I heard – there weren't any of them in sight anymore. I looked everywhere, and concluded that they were struck by the gunmen." Yvonne said sadly, her tone dropping.

"Do you know that they were gunmen?" Eliza and Lavi said simultaneously. They glanced at each other once before staring back at the girl in red.

"I…I don't know…I didn't see them…" She trailed off, before standing up from her seat, "If…if you'll excuse me; I don't want to dwell on this topic anymore. Do you want to help bake my pie?" She offered, suddenly cheering up.

Eliza shook her head. "Nah, I'll pass. We're here to investigate, not bake pies. Sorry. I would've liked to though."

"Right…so moving house, random gunmen shooting down random people…" Eliza sighed, crossing her arms. "Moving house is the Innocence, gunmen were the akuma. Case done."

Lavi sweat-dropped at Eliza's thinking. It was like she wanted to finish the mission straight away. He wanted to tell her that the mission was to be taken at a steady pace, not a pace that would suit an Olympic sprinter.

"Lavi, do you think that house with Yvonne, has something to do with Innocence?" Eliza asked, looking at Lavi.

The red haired man blinked but shrugged. "How should I know? I can't tell where Innocence is if the Innocence _is a house!_ Who can tell it apart from any other house, anyway?" He asked.

The black haired woman frowned. "Well, the least you can do is to help me find the house. The akuma will appear later, anyway."

"Eliza-chan…you know, if you think about it, the akuma will most likely destroy every single house in this city if they find out that exorcists are here…so…let's just wait until the akuma come out." Lavi suggested.

Eliza elbowed Lavi in the arm. "Are you saying I have no brain?!"

Lavi rubbed his arm, feeling the bruise already forming from the attack. He made no comment, though.

Eliza raised an eyebrow, surprised he had no reaction. _Psh, that guy must have learned his place..._she thought. She pondered on what Lavi had said before, considering that it was a better choice than just knocking door to door to find whatever they could find. "We'll go with your plan, then, reddy. How do we go about it?" Eliza finally said.

Lavi's eyes widened, stunned that she actually considered what he had said, before answering. He wanted to leave his smiles for last. "We'll wait until night for the akuma to appear." said Lavi.

It was silent for the few seconds after Lavi finished. Eliza raised an eyebrow. "…Is that all?"

"Yeah. We'll find out what to do afterwards…" Lavi flicked his hand carelessly.

"Hm…to think I thought that you had a plan…" Eliza sighed. "Well, whatever. Let's go door knocking." She began walking down the street towards other houses.

Lavi grinned, following after her. "Sure. And thank you, Eliza-chan~!"

Eliza stopped and looked behind her, raising an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Oh, nothing~!" Lavi caught up to her and they continued walking.

_Yeah, right, it's 'nothing'. _

Night came and the stars came out, shimmering in the sky and showing their existence. The wind became cold, making Eliza shiver from head to toe. Lavi was perfectly fine, however.

"If you're cold, let me hug you." Lavi offered, inching closer to Eliza.

"Urgh. Sorry to say this, but no." The green eyed female moved away from Lavi, focusing on the sky and her surroundings. "There's no akuma so far." She whispered.

"Maybe we should go where Yvonne is." Lavi suggested. "She might have something to do with having akuma around. After all, she did, sort of, witness it, don't you think so?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah…" Eliza mumbled. She stuttered, but that was only because she was cold.

"Gah." Lavi frowned and quickly went over to where Eliza was, before pulling her in really quickly, hugging her tightly around the shoulders.

"AGH!" Eliza yelped, surprised by the sudden movement. She felt warm and fuzzy, like how she is when she's near something warm. She _did _feel warm, but, once she looked over to her to her side to see what had made her warmer, she found out that it was that red head man she was stuck with, and immediately tried to get away, pulling and tugging at the arms that were around her.

"O-Oi! Stop that! I know you're cold, so this is only to warm you up!" He defended, his arms still around her shoulders. He wouldn't let go that easily. He's going to make her let him hug her no matter what.

After many minutes of tugging and pulling, Eliza finally gave up, crossing her arms and pouting, glaring at the road ahead. The blood had risen to her cheeks as she thought of what everyone else would think of their awkward position like that. They'd think that they were a couple! She didn't want that.

"You're getting off me the instant we're at Yvon—" Lavi clamped a hand on her mouth and went right next to her, so close that he whispered into her ear. More blood had flooded into her face, making her blush like mad.

"Shh…akuma." He spoke. She could feel his hot breath right next to her ear.

Eliza stopped talking, because if she did, she'd probably lose it, especially at the close proximity.

"We're going to go in." Lavi glanced at Eliza. "Are you ready?"

She nodded.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

His arms left from around Eliza, and she felt the cold breeze hit her skin, making goose bumps form. Suddenly, she missed the warmth that engulfed her before. She kind of liked it, but whatever her mouth said was the complete opposite, which didn't show what she actually felt. She contradicted herself.

There weren't that many akuma, but they were large and reeked of intent to destroy and to find that house, which, in this case, was the Innocence. Eliza mentally sighed. Who would have a house as Innocence? That was completely out of the world and stupid. If she was searching for Innocence, finding it implanted in a house would be the last thing on her mind. Seriously? Who would have a house made of Innocence?

Lavi and Eliza made their way down the path to where the akuma were, seeing more and more of them explode out of their human forms so that they could start searching, and destroy any unwanted guests. In this case, it would be Lavi and Eliza if they were found out.

The two exorcists ducked from the large akuma's sight and prepared their Innocence, separating to the left and right sides, aiming for a side to side assault on the unsuspecting akuma.

"Man…man…" Lavi began, holding onto his hammer. He glanced to his side and saw Eliza, taking out the Innocence that was his plus a little spike ball. It was strange. Why was their Innocence so similar?

Fast fingers grabbed the handle of the black hammer and spike ball, the owner mumbling a, "Grow," just before she and her companion was close enough to the akuma.

"WHO DARES COME BEFORE ME?" The largest akuma turned around, speaking to the two exorcists running to him. In his view, they were little ants that he could crush with his feet. But to dirty his feet, he didn't want that. "LITTLE AKUMA…GO!" He ordered, pointing to the two specks that he could see.

Eliza and Lavi exchanged looks, nodded, and started to attack the incoming akuma. They were all level 2's, all with different abilities and powers – it was hard avoiding all the attacks that were at close range and far range. There were so many coming in all directions – and one went straight for Eliza; one that she couldn't dodge.

Lavi saw from the side of his eye and quickly kicked away the incoming akuma from his side, running straight to Eliza in chance that he'd save her. "Come on, hammer…" Lavi's already large hammer extended at a fast pace, getting right in front of Eliza just as the explosion between contact surfaces was seen and heard. "Eliza!"

The smoke cleared slowly, making Lavi squint to see what was happening. He saw a lone person standing in the middle of a circle of dead akuma, holding the Innocence in her hands that had killed those akuma around her. It was Eliza – she had survived the blast, and killed the akuma responsible too – he had saved her, in the nick of time. Lavi wiped his forehead, breathing a sigh of sudden relief.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?!" Eliza yelled, pointing straight at the red head, "THERE ARE AKUMA EVERYWHERE, REDDY! HURRY UP AND DESTORY THEM OR I'LL DESTROY YOU!" She threatened.

Lavi slightly jumped and cringed at her words, they were harsh. Ouch. The first part was on direct mark, but to threaten him…if he didn't know her beforehand, he'd laugh it off as a joke. Thing is, was that it's not a joke…she absolutely meant it.

"Y-YES!" Lavi turned around and stared at the barrage of akuma behind him. They were angry, but nice enough to let them finish their conversation. He nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his head, "Haha…thank you for waiting…" He then surprised attacked them, hammering down quickly and efficiently to get rid of them.

Eliza, on the other hand, used the chain attached to her hammer and chanted a few words to extend the chain, so that Lavi wouldn't have that much to deal with. After all, they were companions. She threw the spiked ball, "DUCK, LAVI!" Lavi looked over his shoulder quickly, and yelped in shock, ducking as the spiked ball just missed his head and attacked the akuma before him. He stood back up when he thought the coast was clear.

"Are you try to kill me?!" Lavi cried, holding onto his hammer.

"If you were in the way." Eliza replied. Lavi hung his head.

"This girl is a demon…" He murmured.

"HEY! I HEARD THAT!" The black haired woman snapped.

Lavi saw an akuma, not a level 2, but a level 3, that appeared behind Eliza. His green eyed widened and he shouted her name loudly. A level 3 akuma behind her wasn't good. Not good at all. Lavi knew that level 3 was one of the highest levels, with abilities that he didn't know of. Much, much, more advanced than a level 2.

"ELIZA!" Lavi ran at her, swinging his hammer at the level 3.

Eliza turned her head, seeing the akuma. It was larger than her by far, and very agile. She didn't even have time to gasp as it grabbed her around the neck with its crushing strength, making her drop her Innocence onto the ground. Her hands automatically went up to the strong arm, trying to pull it away from her neck since it was restricting the flow of air into her lungs. She felt a light impact as the akuma blocked the hammer attack from Lavi, pushing it away from it and making Lavi go the way it was pushed.

"Argh…ga….let…go…of….me!" Eliza gasped, grabbing the arm and swinging quickly up so that her legs were near its face. With all the power that she could manage, she kicked it in the face, surprising the creature and making its hold not as strong. Quickly taking this opportunity, she jumped down to get her Innocence, hoping, in her mind, that she would get it just in time so that she could defeat it. But, that hope didn't come true. She felt something squeeze around her ankles, holding her up just above the Innocence, so that she couldn't reach it. "DAMMIT!" She looked up and saw a smirking akuma.

"Aw….poor little girl can't reach her Innocence!" The akuma taunted, laughing as he pointed to her.

"I SAID…LET ME GO!" Eliza screamed, about to kick and scream yet again.

The level 3 akuma used his pointer finger and middle finger, lightly touching Eliza around the head, before saying, "Sweet dreams, exorcist."

Eliza felt something moving inside her head, something that hurt, like a headache. Her eyes began to droop and she felt weaker as she lost consciousness, drifting into the dream world.

Lavi watched all this happen, destroying the akuma that had challenged him. He shouted his companion's name, but he never got a reply. He ran over, attacking the level 3 with his large hammer, but, it blocked it yet again.

"What did you do to Eliza?!" Lavi demanded.

"What I did? That's not of your concern." Level 3 threw Eliza up into the air before catching her in his palm, constricting her with his fingers.

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Lavi's face – he knew he couldn't beat that big guy alone. He needed Eliza to help him. If he was stupid enough, he would get obliterated by that akuma if he continued to use his hammer against him, because he'd block it and literally kick him away. Lavi's green eyes searched everywhere on the ground, above where Eliza hung. She didn't have her Innocence with her, so he assumed it'd be on the ground somewhere. He finally found it, lying on the ground. He saw the akuma about to stomp on it with his humongous foot, and immediately dived, hoping that he could reach it on time.

"_Where the hell am I?!" Eliza shouted to no one in particular. She remembered she was hung upside down by the level 3 akuma, but then she came to here. She had no idea where she was. The place was weird – like a junkyard of some sort, but minus the mice and other creatures. _

"_Anybody home…?" She looked around, before she started climbing the mountains of different heights, made of random junk. She came to the top, and saw the world beyond where she was. Basically, all she saw was a never ending junkyard mania. _

"_Is there something else other than a stupid junkyard?!" She muttered to herself._

"_Eliza…?" _

_The long haired female froze, remembering that voice from anywhere. Why was that person here? _

"_Eliza…is that you?"_

_Eliza slowly turned around, her heartbeat becoming faster and faster. This person…why was he here? Memories of that night pounded her in the head, making it throb unusually. She remembered his screams and shouts, the swearing and the ripping and slicing of his flesh. The sounds of the blood that was shed splashing on the ground resonated in her head. The dead thud that had become of him when he hit the floor. _

"_Alyster…what are you doing here?!"_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"_What? Aren't you happy to see me? You were always happy when you saw me before!" Alyster gave a happy smile, showing off his pearly white teeth. A breeze of wind came by, lightly ruffling his different shaded brown hair. Light shone, the tips of his hair looking blonde instead of brown. He wore slightly worn out pants and a loose T-shirt which was slightly ripped. On his shoulder, hanging off it was a brown bag, presumably with nothing in it._

_Eliza stared at him, gaping. She looked in his eyes, searching – what happened? Those blue eyes of his were ocean in colour, standing out above all of his features. Eliza remembered when they were young, she had been scared by a few other kids for fun, but he glared them off with those penetrating eyes of his. Those young moments were good, but they were gone. They were only stored in memory, and couldn't be redone in the same way._

"_I thought you were dead!" _

"_I _was_ dead. Now I'm not. HE has resurrected me." Alyster closed his eyes for a second, before opening them again, those eyes of him changing from happy to see her to hard and mysterious. _

_Jade coloured eyes narrowed at the man, suspecting him of many things. "Who the heck is HE? Resurrection? I don't think I'd believe in that." _

"_You still have that yapping mouth of yours. Why don't you just shut up a little?" Alyster glared at her. Those blue eyes – they looked as though they had changed to a darker shade of blue than it already was – she didn't remember they changed colours. _

"_Well, if I was to shut up, then you should be dead. AND STAY DEAD!" She shouted at him, throwing the nearest piece of junk at him. _

_Alyster quickly moved his head to the side, effectively dodging the piece of junk that was thrown by the girl he used to adore. "Don't throw things at the person that you used to love…Eliza." His voice was hard and stony, sending a shiver down the exorcist's spine when she thought of those times together._

"_Just shut up, will you? You're not the one that had to go and fight the akuma! You're only a coward, running away from everything! You're such an idiot Alyster!" Eliza screamed at him, grabbing random pieces of junk, yet again throwing them at him._

_He dodged them all easily with a poker face. "That won't work."_

"_Ha! Whatever you say – stupid piece of crap!" Eliza muttered. She glared at Alyster for a brief second, before deciding that she wouldn't associate herself with him, just like she did before, after he left her to kill the akuma. _

_She turned around and started to walk back the way she came, going down the mountain of unwanted rubbish. She heard the racket of tin cans as Alyster stumbled after her, attempting to follow. _

"_Wait up!" Alyster called after her._

_Eliza, being in the pissed off mood she was, completely ignored him and continued forward, her hands clenched into fists and to her sides, swinging to her walking momentum. _

_The female exorcist remembered that Alyster, when younger, used to follow her after she got mad, and since she was the one that was fast at walking, he had to use 'wait up' all the time so that he could catch up. _

"_I told you to wait up!" Alyster placed his hand on Eliza's right shoulder, securing a tight hold to it so that it jerked her back. _

_She stopped._

_Her head turned slightly, her eyes looking to the very side, to see a few of his features. She didn't talk._

"_Eliza, look, there's no need to get mad. We're both here now. We're both resurrected." He spoke._

_Green eyes widened, taking in the words that he had said. She grabbed his arm in her steel grip, pulling it off and taking a few steps back. _

_Why had he said that? They were both resurrected? But Eliza knew she hadn't died yet. So she couldn't have been resurrected. And even if they were resurrected, why the hell were they in a junk yard of crap?_

"_You're lying! I haven't died!" Eliza snapped, "Why don't you just shut the hell up and stay in silence! I don't want to see you anymore! I don't want to hear you! I HATE YOU!" She yelled at his face._

_Alyster stood still and stayed composed, but she saw in his eyes – that he didn't care at all. She now knew, this wasn't the Alyster that she loved. It was someone else. A phony. A fake._

"_You don't understand, Eliza…" Alyster took a quick step forward and embraced Eliza in an iron hug, so that she wasn't able to escape. The girl struggled, kicked and head butted, but he wouldn't budge. Eventually, she stopped, giving up and letting Alyster talk._

"_I never had any intention of hurting you then. I ran away because I was scared. I was a coward. And for that, I'm sorry." He spoke apologetically. _

_Eliza clenched her teeth, hearing the fake voice behind all this. It wasn't real. She knew it. Her ear was on his chest, above his heart – she expected to hear beating of the heart – but there wasn't any. _

'_A normal human should have a beating heart, alive and well, that shows the person they love how they feel about them.' Alyster's words repeated in her head from when they were still together. When he said that phrase, he would grab her hand gently and place it above his heart, letting her feel it race because she was in his presence._

"_NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!" Eliza managed to break away, pushing him a few feet back and punching him in the face. _

"_Wh-Why…? Why. Would. You. Do. That. To. Me?" She heard Alyster's voice, but it sounded different. It sounded more like a machine; a robot. _

_Looking up slowly, she saw him. Where she had punched him in the face had skin that seemed to go all to one side, going in the way of impact. Near his hairline, there was a part of silver there, showing under his skin._

_Suddenly, it hit her._

_The Alyster that she saw now wasn't the Alyster from then. She was right. It was a fake._

_Showing signs of being found out, the robot Alyster ripped off the surface of his face, showing the machine inside. _

"_Ha. Ha. Ha. I. Fooled. You. Alyster. Cannot. Be. Alive! He. Is. A. Servant. Of. The. Millennium. Earl! He. Will. Forever. Be. His! You. Will. Not. See. Him. Ever. Again!" The robot laughed hysterically, and the sound of that laugh rung in Eliza's ears like a never ending universe._

Eliza's emerald green eyes suddenly fluttered open after she had lost consciousness. She had remembered, finally realizing that it was a dream, something that was probably fabricated by the akuma that had captured her, currently.

For no reason, Eliza felt somewhat relieved, a fear tears rolling down her forehead. She forgot she was hung upside down by the level 3 akuma. She wiped the tears off and toughened up, reading to end the mission.

Oh? But where was Lavi?

"ELIZA! OVER HERE!" She heard the red head's voice from below.

Looking down, she saw a huge foot, somehow shaking a slight bit, as if it were being held by something. She spotted some red hair by the round edge of the foot, and knew that it was Lavi.

"LAVI!" She shouted, reaching her arm out to him, palms open.

Something dark and small was thrown in the air towards Eliza. She caught it without fail, recognizing that it was her Innocence that he had thrown.

"THANK YOU!" Eliza shouted, before starting to activate her Innocence.

The small hammer and spike ball grew bigger in size, becoming a huge thing that was similar to the size that Lavi's had become as he was holding off the huge akuma's foot.

"1…2…3!" She followed through with her hammer, attacking the akuma in the face with all the power and strength that she could muster, making it stumble and fall back, releasing its hand so that Eliza was free, and his foot off Lavi, so that he didn't have to hold him off anymore.

Eliza did a summersault in the air, before landing perfectly on her two feet, holding her Innocence in her hands. Lavi jumped up from the ground and went next to her, also holding his Innocence in his hands.

"Finally back?" Lavi asked, smirking.

Eliza nodded. "Forget about that! We're going to kick some butt here!" She grinned, feeling the power of her Innocence in her hands.

"Let's go!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

With Lavi, the both of them maximized their hammers, blowing it up into a huge hammer, before swinging it simultaneously at the level 3 akuma. It was a quick, fast, done deal, and the akuma was of no more, disappearing in a purple star that vanished along with the purified soul of the akuma.

Eliza wiped some sweat off her forehead and felt drained of most of her energy. "Now I know that I'll be eating and sleeping a lot when I'm back at the Order…"

Lavi shrugged, "Well, that goes with everyone. But other than that, there's something else we need to worry about. We still need to retrieve the Innocence of the house." His green eyes glanced around, trying to locate the house, before finding it and examining it for a brief second, "It's been destroyed by akuma. We need to quickly go. The level 3 was probably only a distraction so that the level 1's and 2's could get the Innocence. We have to hurry!"

Eliza nodded, and the two of them sprinted to the broken down house. The two of them zoomed past the houses, seeing it go by as a blur before they reached the house. Although the house was left in ruins, they knew it belonged to no one other than Yvonne. But, where was she? She was nowhere in sight.

Instead of Yvonne being in the house, there were 2 akuma, both level 2, surrounding a glowing green object. They were bickering over something, which gave Eliza and Lavi some time to think of a plan.

"That's the Innocence." Lavi pointed to the glowing green object. Eliza nodded. "But first we need to get the akuma. We'll catch them off guard and retrieve it."

They met eyes and nodded, determinations flowing in their veins. Jumping from their spots, the two exorcists weaved the debris that was created, going to the centre, where the Innocence was.

Eliza grabbed the chain that connected to her hammer and swung it around like a lasso, before throwing it at the akuma, hitting it with powerful force and momentum in the head. It fell on to the ground in the middle of talking to the other akuma, and was exorcised. The akuma in front of it froze for a second, meeting Eliza's eyes as she got her spike ball back. She swung it round, waiting for Lavi from behind to strike it while she distracted.

"Oh. I'm sorry, were you two talking?" Eliza smiled happily, a dark aura emitting from her.

"RAHH! YOU LITTLE—!" The akuma was too late in attacking Eliza, as Lavi had used the hammer to vertically destroy it.

"Done." Lavi grinned, showing he was pleased with himself.

Eliza walked towards the glowing green object and picked it up, feeling a strange energy in it. She held it in her hands, amazed by the feeling that she felt when near it. "Lavi, I've got it. Let's go."

Eliza shrunk her Innocence and placed it back where it was before, and walked to Lavi, who deactivated his too.

"I'll take the Innocence for now." He spoke. She handed him the glowing object and he placed it somewhere out of view.

"Exorcists!" A girly voice called, stopping them in their tracks. They turned around, finding the voice very recognizable.

There, behind them, was Yvonne, clad in her redness.

"Yvonne?!" Eliza exclaimed, "Where did you go just now?!" She asked.

"I was hiding…" She murmured softly.

The older female looked helplessly at the little girl and patted her on the head, smiling warmly. "There won't be any more monsters that will bother you anymore."

"But what about my house?" She asked, eyes watering, "Those monsters destroyed it!"

Eliza looked to the house, reduced to rubble. "Your house isn't there anymore. The akuma destroyed it." She looked back at the red kid.

"B-But…!" She hiccupped. Before the two exorcists knew it, the young one had started to cry, releasing all her sadness.

"Bye, Yvonne! Take care, ok?" Eliza waved to the pie baker from a far, about to leave back to the Order in the following morning. Lavi was with her, a slice of toast in his mouth. He waved too.

The two of them had gone around the town after the attack, helping people get to hospitals if they were injured, or help build things. They were squeezed of their energy from all that. They had found Yvonne a home with some other kids, who were also around her age.

Yvonne waved once more, before the duo left down the path to the closest station. It was a half an hour walk, so they killed time by talking.

"So, uh, Eliza…did the akuma show you anything?" Lavi asked, glancing to his companion.

The black haired girl blinked, not sure how to answer. "The akuma showed me something?" She questioned.

Reddy nodded. "Yeah. Well, uh, let's see…how to explain…uhm—" Eliza nudged him in the arm.

"Just say it already!" She snapped.

"You looked really angry, then sad, then angry again, in your unconscious state…" Lavi's voice went softer and softer, "You also sort of cried, a little…" The exorcist got ready for a hit to the body, but it never came.

"HAH? What are you talking about?" Eliza tilted her head, wondering what the hell her companion was spouting about.

"Huh?" He blinked. Was she really that clueless? But oh well…talking about that topic might go kind of bad. Better to skip than to go straight to it.

"Oh, don't worry. It was just my imagination." Lavi laughed it off, stretching his arms above his head at the same time.

"Che. What kind of imagination do you have?" Eliza muttered to herself.

Lavi chuckled; the first time he met her she was like a witch, only pretty. But now that he's known her more, she's become quite interesting.

"Well done for completing the mission!" Komui grinned, giving a thumbs up to the two exorcists. Eliza scribbled the last of the mission report and handed it to Lavi, who proof read it and gave it to the Chief for submission.

"See ya, Chief." Lavi waved before going off. He was so hungry, he needed food. He also needed sleep. That mission itself was annoying. Plus, he also needed to think of some things.

Eliza's eyes followed him through the door, and went back to Komui after.

He sounded almost smug, "Did you guys do anything?"

She was caught off guard by that sudden question. "W-W-What?!" She stuttered, in utter disbelief. What did this old guy think she and Lavi were doing? "We were completing the mission! That's all there is to it!"

"Oh really…?" Komui's eyes narrowed into a mischievous glint, smirking evilly at his little plan. He stopped a split second later, laughing. "That was just a joke, I was kidding!"

Eliza pouted and glared at the Chief, annoyed at his stupid behaviour. Chiefs weren't supposed to act like that, were they? But since this guy is named Komui, then yes.

"Anyway, I should get going now. Bye, Chief." Eliza whipped around and walked off, leaving a happy Komui in wake, swirling the coffee in his cup with a spoon as he mixed the sugar.

"Chief, why are you putting sugar in your coffee? I thought you didn't add anything." Reever said, walking in with a light stack of papers in need of being signed.

Komui froze, before looking down at his coffee, and seeing a little mountain of sugar dissolve in it. His face turned pale, remembering the last events that happened when he drank a sugar filled coffee drink.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The screams of the Chief could be heard from all over the Order, making Exorcists, Finders and workers wonder what Komui was doing. In a dark room, the moon light shining through the open window and illuminating objects, there was a hand in the air, outstretched and staring.

Lavi's mind replayed Eliza's unconscious state's mumbling, wondering what she was talking about.

"_**Alyster…you idiot…"**_ He had heard her mumble.

The red head remembered her in great detail, at that exact moment. Her face was writhed in somewhat pain and sadness, while mumbling those few words, before they relaxed and went blank. What was she thinking? Was it her past? He would never know.

Suddenly, something clicked in his head.

The image of a so called 'vampire' flashed in his mind.

Realization hit like the blast of an akuma to his face.

With much shock , he burst out in astonishment, "SHE WAS DREAMING OF ARYSTAR KRORY?!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Eliza blinked at the echoing sounds of the same word 'No', twice.

"Who the hell would make such noise at this hour? Psh. So noisy."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Lavi strolled into the cafeteria after waking up and doing his daily morning routine. His green eyes scoured around the area. He didn't know who he was looking for. But when his eyes stopped on a long black haired girl with green eyes sitting with Allen, Lenalee, Miranda, Krory and Kanda, he remembered the night before, when he had freaked out.

Oh. Kanda's there, too, Lavi thought. Actually, Yu was probably there first, then Allen, Lenalee and the rest joined him…he must be annoyed. Haha, that's funny. He's _always _annoyed.

His eyes went straight from the others to Krory, who was _sitting beside Eliza._ Lavi shrieked inside, feeling frantic and annoyed at the same time. Quickly, he tried to walk very fast and normal at the same time, going to get his breakfast and walking to the table, so that it was very _casual_. Apparently, that was to him.

The others didn't see it that way. They saw the red head hurry around like a lost duck, get his food, then awkwardly walk over to the table, then sit down, right next to Eliza, who had a spare seat next to her.

Phew…this was nothing! Lavi mentally wiped the sweat off his forehead and smiled to the others as if it were nothing, saying a brief 'good morning' before digging in to his meal, still secretly eyeing Krory and Eliza.

Kanda's eye twitched at another person joining the table – when Allen and Lenalee came, it attracted everybody else. How typical. How _annoying_. Allen and Lenalee exchanged looks, and then glanced at Lavi, who had an aura of irritation, just by watching Eliza and Krory. They sweat-dropped, thinking the same thing: What's wrong with Lavi today?

"Hey, Krory, I want to ask you about your Innocence," Eliza started, turning to Krory as she stabbed a piece of meat and shoved it into her mouth, eating heartedly. Her back was even facing Lavi. Was he being ignored? Now that she said it, _she's never asked him about his Innocence at all!_ Did she really like Krory more than him?

Inside, Lavi was crying a lake of despair. Eliza really didn't like him, eh? Now that he thought of that – why was he even thinking of this in the first place? What was his purpose? Why was he getting all hyped up because of Eliza? WHAT WAS HE THINKING?!

Kanda drank the last of his Japanese tea and stood up, holding his tray. Without a word, he left. He had a mission to complete. And it didn't involve the losers sitting around the table.

Allen and Lenalee's eyes trailed from Kanda to Lavi, who seemed to be poking at his steak with his knife. Every time Eliza and Krory would converse, every single line, he stabbed the steak brutally, then took out the knife.

The white haired exorcist and dark haired girl looked at each other, exchanging facial expressions for what to do, and what they thought that Lavi was doing.

"Is he jealous?" Lenalee whispered to Allen, so that he could only hear.

Allen thought for a second, before nodding. "But she's completely ignoring him…" He glanced back at Lavi, now seeing that he was chopping the steak with ferocity, then chomping on it, and gnawing it like a hungry tiger. "I think he's going to destroy something…"

Lenalee took action quickly, clearing her throat as a way of catching attention, and succeeded. Everyone stared at her, wondering what she wanted to say. Nobody dare go against her. After all, Komui was backing her up. And no one wants to get on Komui's bad side. Nobody.

The Chinese exorcist turned to Lavi, giving him a smile, "After you finish, you need to go back to Komui's office. He said he needed you there." Looked to Krory and Miranda, "You two will also need to go, but at a later time, after Lavi comes back out." Smiling she concluded, "That's all."

"Is there anything for me?" Eliza asked. She, Allen and Lenalee were the only ones that weren't called. Excluding Kanda, because he's on his mission.

"Ah, no. Nothing for you. Actually – there is _one_ thing…" Lenalee thought for a brief second, "You'll come out with me and Allen to the town. Is that alright with you?"

Eliza shrugged, having no idea what was going on. But it was alright, going to town with a few friends. "Alright then…it's good."

Lenalee and Allen glanced at each other briefly, before whispering to each other, when Eliza was getting ready. They were waiting outside her room, just after she had gone in.

"Why are we going to the town?" Allen asked, "What are we going to do there?"

"I don't really know!" Lenalee shrugged, "But I think it'll be good if we got what Eliza thinks of Lavi out of her! Remember, Lavi was really annoyed that she was talking all to Krory!"

Allen blinked, an idea popping in his head just like a light bulb flashing on top of his head. "I know! You know how you said that Lavi has to go to Komui's office?" Lenalee gave a curt nod. "How about we let Komui into this and make him ask what Lavi thinks of Eliza?" He suggested.

The female exorcist thought for a second, before her features lightened up. She clasped both of Allen's hands between hers, and grinned at him, happy he had made that suggestion. "We'll do it! I'll be right back!" With that, Lenalee was off to tell Komui.

Would Lavi be there yet? Allen wondered. Or would Lenalee be faster? Now that he thought about it, Lavi would probably be walking very slowly and sulking, pissed at Eliza's attention at Krory. But Krory didn't do anything wrong. Lavi just simply misunderstood.

The door clicked open to Eliza's room, and the long black haired girl had her hair in a ponytail and wore casual clothes, consisting of a green T-shirt and black cardigan, along with dark blue pants. "Allen, where's Lenalee?" She asked, glancing around when she saw that her friend wasn't there.

"She'll be back any minute now." Allen smiled.

"Allen! Eliza!"

The two exorcists heard their companion call, and they made their way toward the underground passageway that led to the outside world.

The three of them prowled around the town, looking at the shops and trying on different clothing. They had spotted a circus performance in the middle of the shopping district, and found their ways over there, where they could see. A small boy, probably around the age of 9 or 10, was juggling balls with his hands while balancing on a larger ball, which rolled around in a circle. But his concentration was amazing to watch, as the spectators just stared and gasp in awe when he did something different.

But, all good things come to a last. Suddenly, in the middle of a performance, the little boy stumbled a little. He threw all the balls up into the air and the larger ball slipped from his feet, making him about to fall face first into the ground.

Eliza noticed that Allen had jumped from his place next to her and into the performance area, where he jumped onto the ball and quickly latched his hands around the boy's ankles, before throwing him up into the air, making him land on his shoulders. The boy had a surprised and shocked look on his face, but he went along with the act.

Lenalee and Eliza's eyes widened with fascination, as they watched their acrobatic friend jump here and there, improvising the whole performance. At the end, the two jumped off the ball and bowed to the audience, who in turn, threw money into the top hat that the young boy had held out.

Having nothing else to watch, the audience went away and all that was left was the exorcists and the performer. Lenalee and Eliza went nearer to the two. Allen had ruffled the cute boy's hair, giving him a smile.

"You guys were really great out there!" Lenalee commented, a happy expression on her face.

Eliza nodded in agreement, "That was really amazing! I never knew you could do acrobatics, Allen!"

The white haired exorcist rubbed the back of his head and waved goodbye to the little boy, pointing to the nearby café. "Is it okay if we talk in there? I want something to eat." He said.

"So you were a circus performer when you were younger?!" Eliza's eyes gleamed with admiration at the white haired male. "I can't believe you didn't tell me that sooner!"

"Well…uh….you didn't ask…" Allen managed to say, taking a sip of his lemon soda.

Lenalee and Allen locked eyes, before a Lenalee nodded very slightly, that it couldn't be seen to other people other than those two. A secret between them.

"So, how come you were really interested in Krory today, Eliza? I thought you already knew what his Innocence was." Allen blinked, "I thought we told you."

Eliza thought for a brief second, "I don't remember…even if you did, I'd probably forget it…" She sighed.

"Haha," Lenalee giggled, "By the way, how was your mission with Lavi? I haven't heard anything about that!"

"Really? But I thought Komui told you everything. Since you're his sister and all…" Eliza chewed on her French toast, tasting the delicate flavour only that could give.

Lenalee gulped, improvising on her plan of attack. She didn't think that Eliza would say that!

"Oh, my brother doesn't tell me about missions…because there are so many of them, he just doesn't care anymore. He used to tell me, but now he doesn't. All I do now is give them coffee when they're working." Lenalee gave a big sigh.

"That reminds me; you guys got back Innocence, right?" Allen asked.

The shortest girl nodded, "Yeah. It was a house."

"A house?"

Eliza remembered the mission very clearly, that there were so many annoying akuma, and a girl baking pie…then there was….her mind flashed a red and she remembered the warmth she felt that day. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she turned red.

Allen and Lenalee watched her in confusion as she didn't speak nor look at them, then suddenly turned red like a tomato. They swore they saw steam coming from her head.

"Eliza, is something wrong?" Lenalee asked.

She shook her head abruptly, hearing her fellow exorcist's voice, "N-n-n-nothing at all! Don't worry about it! Let's order some chocolate cake!" Eliza quickly raised her hand and the waiter ushered over, and she told them her order.

_SHE'S AVOIDING US, _Lenalee and Allen thought simultaneously. _SOMETHING MUST HAVE HAPPENED AT THAT MISSION…WE MUST FIND OUT._

"So Lavi, did you make a move on Eliza-chan on that mission?" Komui's eye gleamed evilly.

Lavi spat out the coffee he was drinking, making it go all over Komui's upper body and face. The Chief blinked once before opening the cupboard and taking out a towel, wiping the coffee from his face and glasses in neat fashion, completely calm about it.

"You've already asked me that! I said no!" Lavi's face turned to the colour of a chilli, the steam coming off from all directions.

Komui only laughed. His laugh was scary. It had the feel of a sadistic person who didn't care if people's feelings were involved.

"I'm telling this to you now. I know. I know you did something to her. Spill it out die." Komui spoke in a menacing manner, and in less than a blink of the eye, he had brought out his humongous drills and hammers used for 'repairing'. They look more like items used for a mass murder, though.

Lavi started to sweat bullets, staring at the dangerous items as the Chief took one step, two steps, towards him in an excruciatingly slow rate. He gulped, trying to get the ball of nervousness down.

"I CONFESS, I CONFESS! I HUGGED HER, OK! THAT'S ONLY WHAT I DID!" Lavi shouted, shoving his hands in front of him with his eyes squeezed shut. He didn't want to die by Komui! Not yet, anyway.

He didn't hear anything. Everyone was silent. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw that Komui was silently laughing at him, that cheeky expression plastered all over his features, as if he found out a truly amusing secret.

"Hahaha…Lavi-kun, so that's all you did to Eliza-chan, huh?" Komui's lips curled upwards into a smile, before he pulled a lever on one of the huge drills he carried. It made a long rumbling sound, before Komui grinned and smacked Lavi on the head, making him splat his face on the ground.

"Ow…"

"LAVI! YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH HER, BUT WHY AREN'T YOU MAKING A MOVE YET?! BE A MAN!" Komui shouted, clenching his hand into a fist as he passionately said that with some oomph.

Lavi raised his head from the ground, feeling the blood drip down his forehead.

_There were so many contradictions in what he just said..._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Back at the café, Allen and Lenalee were both giving Eliza a look of confusion. Something must've happened on that trip with Lavi, they just didn't know what. But that was only mainly because the girl with Lavi, didn't tell them. It annoyed them very much so.

When the chocolate cake had hit the table, the three chowed down on it, filling their stomachs with the rich cake. Whilst eating the slice, Lenalee looked up and saw that Eliza was off guard, happily eating it with a smile on her face. Lenalee didn't want to interrupt, but her curiosity forced her.

"So did you hug anybody?" The Dark Boots wielder threw a random question, just taking a random guess at what had happened. Plopping a bit of chocolate into her mouth, she observed her friend's reaction.

"Huh?"

It wasn't as she was expecting; Eliza's face was red and the cake on her fork had dropped from it, hitting the plate with a light splat as her mouth hung open and her green eyes wide. Lenalee nudged Allen and he looked up, catching on the situation. As they both stared at Eliza, her features slowly started to redden, spreading a layer of pink blush on her cheeks.

"Eliza…? What's wrong?" Lenalee asked. She didn't get why Eliza was blushing. Did she say something wrong?

"N-Nothing…"

"Eliza-chan, if something's on your mind, you can tell us! We're always here for you, no matter what!" Allen grinned. It soon degraded down into a friendly smile.

Eliza glanced at Allen when he said those beautiful words. He was like an angel. And Lenalee was the apprentice of angels next to him. If she were someone else with the problem she was facing right now, she'd tell them because they looked so trustworthy and friendly. Even if she didn't tell them, wouldn't they find out somehow? And she couldn't tell them…her mouth and voice box wouldn't let her say that kind of stuff.

Pfft.

Too much pride.

"Uhm, uh…" Eliza started, fiddling with her fingers, "I don't know how to put t-this…b-but…" Well, now's the time to swallow her pride. She felt intense stares on her, and saw that the two exorcists were leaning in closer and closer, as if they _really _wanted to know the secret.

_Eep! Why are they so close?! _Eliza thought, feeling that her personal space was slipping from her.

"O-On that mission, L-Lavi—"

_DING, DING, DING, DING! DING, DING, DING, DING!_

The church bell had rung loudly, resonating the whole area whilst Eliza was speaking. After it had died down, Lenalee and Allen paused for a slight bit, before fiddling with their fingers.

All they saw was Eliza's moving mouth when the bells rang. Nothing else.

"Uhm…we didn't hear what you said because of the church bells…can you say it again?" Allen smiled sheepishly.

Eliza froze up like a rock, feeling that she had swallowed her pride for nothing. No way was she saying that again.

"Krrii! Krii! Krii!" The golem that was in Lenalee's jumper had flown out of it and was connecting to the Order's system. It made a static noise for what seemed like 10 minutes, and finally it connected. Throughout that whole waiting period, Eliza was sweating bullets mentally, she was glad they got interrupted.

"_**Lenalee-chan, Allen-kun, Eliza-chan!"**_ They could hear Komui's voice.

"Yes, brother?" Lenalee looked up to the golem.

"_**Please come back to the Order now, we have a new mission on our hands, and it's not collecting Innocence, it's something more dangerous." **_Komui spoke, _**"Be careful coming back."**_

With that, the connecting was disabled and the golem was switched off and placed back where it was before. After it, the three exorcists stared at each other, wondering what in the world was happening. What was the dangerous thing that the Chief was talking about?

"Not collecting Innocence?" Allen quirked a brow, "But collecting an Innocence is already quite dangerous…what's more dangerous than that?" He asked.

"Well, if my brother asks us to go back now, then it's something bad. I'm sure of it." Lenalee sighed, "I wonder what it is this time…"

"Is he going to send all of the exorcists to the battlefield? Or is he going to send only a few?" The long dark haired female asked.

She sent Eliza an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I don't know. We have to go back and check with brother. We don't even know how dangerous this is, or if it's even dangerous at all."

"Oh…" Eliza nodded slowly, finishing up her cake before wiping her mouth with a napkin. She waited for the other two to finish, before they went off.

After Komui had bullied Lavi into a corner, he went straight down to business. The Chief sat on his chair with his mug of coffee, having a few sheets of filled paper in front of him. He had read them before, and to ease the situation, he had picked on Lavi.

The red head sat down and breathed deeply, his mind screwing over with what Komui had said before.

"Lavi, I called you in here because I have things to discuss with you, you being a bookman and all." Komui paused, "and it has nothing to do with you assaulting Eliza-chan."

Lavi stuttered, embarrassed, "Stop saying that!"

"Haha, we all know you liked it." Komui mused, deliberately giggling like a little girl.

"Grr…" Lavi crossed his arms, "Just got on with it! Tell me already."

Komui cleared his throat, "Alright. Well, the Millennium Earl hasn't been reported to have made a move yet, but there have been several _frequent_ akuma sightings in Rome, Italy. People in that city are horrified that they keep sighting those beings, and all the finders that we sent there were all killed by them. There are only a few people who are actually _people_ in that city; the rest are akuma," he furrowed his dark brows, "We don't know if there is any Innocence there, but we do know that there are hundreds of akuma there – but again – we don't know if it's hundreds, it may even be thousands."

Lavi's eyes widened, keeping track of this hoard of information in his mind. "That's unheard of."

"It's the first time we've heard something like this. It's unbelievable that so many akuma are stationed at one place at a given point in time," Komui sighed, closing his eyes in stress, "What exactly is the Earl _thinking_?"

Lavi's mind processed what Komui had just said – he thought of the recent akuma at the town that he and Eliza went to, and how there were level 3's and many level 2's. Normally there wouldn't have been too much level 2's, just only a few. And there wouldn't be a level 3 there either. But there was.

What _was _the Earl thinking?

Even Lavi, remembering everything and being the second smartest out of the four (Lenalee, Allen and Kanda), couldn't figure it out. There wasn't enough information. The Order could only assume what the Earl thought – a thousand different probabilities, but only a random one will be picked as to what route he's taking.

"Ugh," He shook his head ran his hand through his hair, deliberately avoiding the bandanna. He creased his eyebrows and his lips curled slightly downwards, "Damn it…"

The three exorcists that had left to town earlier backtracked to where they started off, and headed to the Chief's office. They could just invite themselves in, since there wasn't really a door; just a passage that led to the big office of Komui, which was actually not an office, but a vast space which flooded with loose papers.

"Komui-san?" Allen called, walking with the two females as they entered the area.

"Oh, Allen-kun!" They heard Komui's voice from their right side, and followed it until they saw the red head and Chief.

"Hah? Reddy, you're still here?" Eliza quirked a brow.

Lavi turned around upon their entrance and nodded at Eliza, meeting her green eyes. "Yeah." He looked back at Komui, which puzzled Eliza as he didn't have that normal atmosphere around him like he normally did. Strange, she thought.

"Brother, you said something about it being important for us to be here?" Lenalee walked up to her blood kin.

Komui nodded, "Everyone take a seat first. There're quite a few details."

Eliza eyed Komui in confusion; was something the matter? There was a sense of urgency in his voice, as if something was going to happen.

Pfft, Eliza thought, probably not, the Chief might be joking?

But he was not.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"As I told Lavi before, there is city, Rome, which has been infested by akuma. There are little people known to be that aren't akuma – all the finders that we sent never reported back, most likely they're dead." Komui grimaced at the last part, sadness overwhelming him as there were several lives lost to find out about Rome.

"But why did you just send finders? Couldn't you also send an exorcist with the finder?" Eliza cocked a brow, finding it quite unbelievable that Komui would send finder after finder knowing that they'd died before sending another one.

The Chief was silent for a second, before answering, "That…will be overkill. Exorcists have many other duties other than to accompany a finder to a destination that is full of akuma. Yes, they've lost their lives, but they were willing to so that the information can be passed to us. All the exorcists were busy at that time, so we couldn't help but decide upon that."

Frowning, Eliza shook her head slowly, "That is stupid! Why'd you send many finders over? I'm willing to bet that you sent more than 3! 2 would have been fine!" She exclaimed, clenching her hands into fists as she stared with frustration at the Chief.

Komui's eyes softened and there was a pause, "I know it was stupid of me – I didn't think straight. This is one of the first times that this kind of thing has happened."

Crossing her arms, Eliza plopped down onto the couch in between Lavi and Allen and crossed her legs, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Brother, what're the details? Do we all go there?" Lenalee asked, breaking the doomed silence.

The older brother clicked his fingers, "Ah! That's right," He pulled down a map and somehow magically pointed at Rome with a silver stick that teachers used so that they didn't get in the way of their students, "So you'll all go to Rome. Take care, though, everything is probably akuma infectious. Something's being planned there – I don't know what, but I'd like you all to investigate and report back to me. Oh, also destroy the akuma too, please." Komui ended with a bright and happy smile, but once he saw the gloomy faces of the 4 exorcists, he smile went gloomy too.

"Man…we have to do all that…?" Lavi stared at the Chief with tired eyes, "Are you kidding me?"

"Seems like hell of a big job, frankly." Eliza sighed.

"You're not one to complain. I know it's a big job, but it has to be done, just like a wound has to be treated before it gets worse. Capish?" The Chinese man raised both eyebrows.

"How long do you think it'll take to get there and finish the mission?" Allen asked.

"It's not that far from here. It'll take 1 day or so. But finishing the mission? I have absolutely no idea."

"Ah…ok…"

"Well, be careful, all of you. It's dangerous. Look out for each other. The town's a living murderer." Komui waved them goodbye and sat on his seat, heaving a big sigh as he rubbed his temples.

The 4 of them walked together, a heavy burden for them so that they could finish the mission safe and sound. It wasn't like it was their first time on a mission, but this one sounded very serious – a town full of akuma? How many people – akuma – would that be? How long did they have to use their Innocence? If it's a whole town, then wouldn't they be battling non-stop, since if one akuma is killed, another will also come and attack them?

That would be a never ending cycle of akuma, until all the ones in the village die out!

Eliza felt tired even thinking about it. It wasn't something that she'd do any day, because she wouldn't do it. Sad enough, she had to. It was her job.

"So, uh…Lavi, what did Komui tell you?" Allen asked, turning to face Lavi as he sat down on the train, next to said white haired boy.

"The mission." Red head replied.

"Is that all? Oh yeah! That reminds me," Allen turned to Eliza with genuinely happy eyes and a smile, "This will be our first mission in a group and with you! It'll be better than that drag queen!"

Eliza got the joke right away, laughing her head off as she turned around, hitting the wall of the little room that was in the train. Allen soon joined her, doing exactly the same thing she was doing, but with a golem that made, 'Grah! Grah!' sounds.

"Drag Queen?" Lavi questioned, "Who's that?" He turned to Lenalee, blinking with confusion. He didn't understand why they were laughing.

Lenalee was in giggles, a hand to her mouth as she tried to stop herself laughing. She answered Lavi though, "They're referring to you!" her set of giggles changed to a set of laughter.

"ME?!"

"YES!" The three of them laughed.

"WHAT PART OF ME LOOKS LIKE A DRAG QUEEN?!"

Once they reached their destination, it was dawn, the sun rising in the east, and the fresh air filling their lungs. It was a nice morning, fresh and crisp, along with singing birds.

"Ah…such a nice morning!" Lenalee smiled, closing her eyes and breathing in a lungful.

"That train ride's making me feel icky…" Eliza felt annoyed since she couldn't sleep at all, and didn't have any food since last night. The train workers didn't even give them breakfast! Eliza swore she saw a rich kid's family eating breakfast on their way out – why didn't they give them any? But then she thought again. It was a rich kid. What else?

Upon reaching the town, they heard the cheerful voices of children playing with a ball, shouting out each other's' names as they passed it to each one. The parents on the sidelines, when they walked passed, would smile at the innocence of the kids.

Once they stood outside of the city, Allen's left eye reacted quickly, eying the children and the parents; they were all akuma.

"They're all akuma. Be careful guys!" Allen whispered as they moved in nearer to the scene. The akuma could be anywhere, and they could be in danger as every ticking second passed.

The 4 of them activated their Innocence's, their minds on high alert, and taking caution in every step they took toward the city.

Just as they did, however, the 4 exorcists were blown off their feet from behind. Lenalee managed to get Lavi and Eliza out of the blast radius just before they were hit, with her Dark Boots, and Allen defended himself with his white cape.

"Allen, are you alright?" Lenalee shouted.

Allen didn't reply, however, but killed the akuma responsible, using his Crown Clown to swipe at it, before it exploded.

Hearing the explosions nearby, the citizens of Rome stopped playing with each other and looked into the direction the dust was flying overhead. Snake like tongues and demonic eyes took over their features, as they smelled an incredibly tasty treat only a few ten metres away.

"Exorrrcccciiisstttt…"

On the messy desk at Headquarters, Komui scribbled his name on many documents whilst also drinking coffee. He needed to finish the workload. He stopped for a brief moment – leaning back on his chair and breathing evenly, before resuming.

His eyes drifted to the pile he had finished, which was one pile as tall as him, which made him quite happy, then he stared at the gigantic 5 piles that he was yet to sign, making him want to pan dead.

Luckily, the phone rang and he put it next to his ear with speed.

"_Oi, Komui, I've finished the mission." _

"Oh! Kanda-kun! That was quick. How was it?" Komui said with surprise.

"_What do you mean, 'how was it?' It's just killing akuma. Stupid."_

"You didn't need to say that last word, Kanda-kun…you're hurting my feelings…" The Chief said with sadness as he sniffed.

"_Tch. There was no Innocence."_

"This is your last mission? Are you injured?"

"_Yes and no."_

"Ok. I have another mission for you."

"_Tch. Then spill it. I don't have all day."_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Allen, Lenalee, Lavi and Eliza ran into the city, the equipment type users readied their weapons as they felt a murderous intent from behind and in front. Simultaneous hisses were heard, sounding identical to that of snakes as they breezed past.

"Exorcists...you'll make a nice meal." A lady in a white dress walked up to the group as they were running to the centre of the town, along with a hoard of level 1 akuma, "Attack, my dear underlings!"

"What? Another army of akuma? This eats shit!" Eliza cursed, frowning as she enlarged her hammer and spike ball to attack. Holding onto the chain that connected the two, she flung it at the enemy, exorcising the first line of attack, "And what the hell is with 'my dear underlings'?! That's sounds so retarded!" The woman shouted to the unknown lady on the opposite end.

Twitching slightly, the lady in white clenched her fist but remained in composure. She shouldn't do anything rash right now. She was under orders not to do so. Furrowing her eyebrows into a close knit, she pointed forwards, "Attack, dear underlings!"

Eliza glared at the woman, "She's purposely doing this to annoy me, isn't she?!" The dark haired female held onto one half of her Innocence and used the hammer, twirling it around her fingers before stamping it to the ground, and releasing an energy wave, paralysing the akuma within a 10 meter radius. This technique requires energy from its user to hold onto it for 10 seconds or so, before the akuma isn't paralysed anymore, "Guys, this is your chance before more come!"

As easy as destroying level 1 akuma are, there were so many, it was literally a swarm, much like a circus with an audience, but triple that.

Lenalee gracefully kicked and jumped, expelling the akuma here and there with speed and elegance, much like a butterfly. Allen used his left arm to swipe at them, quickly killing them off. Eliza smashed them to pieces with her spike ball. Lavi, on the other hand, was hammering them down like one of those games where the player smashed down with a hammer, and records a high score to earn tickets.

Eliza's technique wore off, much to the opposing lady's delight, as her akuma continued to storm forward. Good thing was, was that the exorcists had taken out over half of the whole army of level 1's. After all, they were easy prey, much unlike level 2's, which were a slight bit harder.

Lenalee landed behind Eliza, leaning against their backs, as they breathed a bit heavier than normal.

"Lenalee, how're you coping?" Eliza asked, eyeing the side of her green eyes.

"I'm fine. You should get the lady in white," Lenalee kicked an incoming akuma, doing a flip in the air that almost seemed slow motion; "She's probably an akuma too!"

Green eyes glanced toward the lady in white, "Lenalee, you get her! You're faster than me, so it's better! I'll paralyse them for you!"

Landing perfectly, the Chinese exorcist nodded, "Alright! I'm going now!"

Taking in a lungful of air, Eliza smashed the hammer down onto the ground, releasing the paralysing energy waves yet again.

"Allen! Help Lenalee!" Eliza shouted.

Allen nodded, destroying one last akuma before running to Lenalee's destination.

"Lavi, you're helping me!" Eliza jumped up into the air and whipped the chain around as if it were a lasso, and threw it through a line of akuma. Each exploded with a bang.

Three level 3 akuma floated in the sky, staring down amusingly at the exorcists and their colleagues. They bickered and laughed at how God's disciples had to battle the weaklings, and a whole army of them. It seemed to take them ages, as there were so many that had rolled in to join and attack.

"Oh. Look at that one. She's going to attack the Mistress." A metallic pink one pointed its sharp finger at a girl with twin tails, accelerating at high speed to get pass the akuma and to the Mistress, "Oh, look! Another one! Is that guy old?" Said finger changed direction and pointed to the white haired boy.

"What are they planning…?" The second one, an akuma with a blue shine and white armour tilted its head, its arms crossed as it pondered, completely ignoring the first akuma's remark.

"…" The last one didn't speak, only stared, as the sun shone on its dark red body. Its eyes were focused on the Innocence hammer duo that was left behind to destroy the weaklings, whilst the other two were going ahead for the Mistress.

"What did the Earl say again?" The pink one tapped its temple, before lighting up like a light bulb, "He said to 'get rid of exorcists if they try to go attack my masterpiece'! That's right! We're supposed to be attacking them right about now!" It said cheerfully.

"Psh. I'm sitting back to watch. Let the level 1's distract them. There's level 2's coming." The akuma with the brilliant blue shine pointed to a large hoard of akuma coming from the opposite end of the town, recognizing that there was an exorcist battle, wanting to join, "See?" The other two shrugged and remained floating in the air, arms crossed.

Lavi panted, huffing in more oxygen to keep his body going. The more he moved, the harder it was to destroy the akuma. It was endless! Now that they'd finished with the level 1 akuma, level 2's had just _had to come along_ and join the party! It pissed them off.

"GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Eliza slammed the hammer down onto a level 2 akuma, knocking it down from its floating position and into the ground, before smashing the ball in replacement for the hammer. It vanquished with an explosion.

"They're not going to stop!" She stressed, gripping her chain and handle tighter. She took a glance in Lavi's direction, seeing how he was going. He had a few scratches here and there, but he seemed alright. On the other hand, she was covered with scratches, on her arms, legs and dirt and dust smeared at her face. It made her feel like she was back before Lavi and Bookman had found her.

Allen and Lenalee closed in on the woman in white, readying their Innocence. But, level 2 akuma had come in between them, so they had to fight. They weren't that hard, which was good for the exorcists. With a kick here and a swing of a cape, they were gone, with the duo coming onto the lady again.

Allen took the first move; within 2 metres, he brought up his left hand and swung it down, making 5 claw marks in the form of power to go straight to where the woman was seated. Lenalee jumped into the air, exorcising the akuma that were above.

The lady in white didn't move.

She didn't even budge, or twitch.

Allen's eyes widened as his attack made a powerful explosion, sending the ground's concrete into the air in little blocks, along with a cloud of black dust. Glancing here and there, Allen couldn't tell if he'd succeeded or not.

Slowly, the dust cleared up, revealing the immaculate white dress of the Lady, her arm held high, holding Lenalee by the neck.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Lenalee!" Allen shouted, voice loud and clear. She was planning an attack from above, attacking the lady just after he had attacked her. But, how could that woman negate both attacks?

Just what _was _she?!

"A…Allen…" Lenalee managed to say, "A…Akuma…"

The woman in the white dress punched her in the gut, sending a shock down Allen's body as he winced at her pain. Lenalee coughed up some blood, clenching her teeth. Some blood stained the woman's white dress, sending her into an angry rage at the person responsible. She threw another punch, but Lenalee's flexibility was put to the test. She swung herself up backwards, making a backwards C, and with power, she kicked the woman square in the head, making her let go of her neck and send her flying into a level 2 akuma, which in turn exploded from impact.

Lenalee landed with her two feet, but stumbled a little. She wiped the blood from her mouth and glanced at Allen, "I'm alright," answering his questions.

"You…dare…"

Allen and Lenalee's heads looked to where the lady was kicked to, and found that the white dress was half ripped, from the side to the middle of the front, showing her legs that were long and thin. The sleeves were gone, and the hood that the woman wore was gone, too. Finally, she had revealed her face. Her face was small and round, cute even. Her eyes were a deep blue, so mesmerizing and hollow; it could sweep anyone into the depths of them. Long brown wavy hair flowed down her back and her shoulders. She looked human. Her features were angry with rage. She took a step forward, straight at Allen and Lenalee.

There was a huge explosion right near Lavi and Eliza; they heard it very clearly – it was so loud, so _deafening_. What was going on there? Lavi ducked his head and glanced to the explosion area, and saw only a cloud of black dust. The hammer punched the akuma, going through it, taking the redhead's attention away from what Allen and Lenalee were doing.

"Oi! Reddy! Focus! Do you want to die?!" Eliza shouted in his ear.

"N-No!" Lavi stumbled from the surprise shouting, but regained his balance, quickly attacking the few ten akuma that were left. They were nearly done.

Eliza destroyed an akuma with her spike ball, killing it in one blow with the viciousness. She saw the black cloud of dust in the near background, clearing, revealing the woman that they'd seen at first which ordered the akuma around.

Eliza squinted at the person. Instead of being in that pretty white dress, she was now a mess, still with the white dress, but ripped up in all sorts of different places. Her hood was gone. She could now see her face. But just barely. Her green eyes could make out the fine lines of the person's face, seeing their angry expression and mature face.

Eliza felt like she recognized her, but thought about it again – she can't possibly know an akuma. There was probably someone that looked exactly like her that Eliza just couldn't put her finger on.

The more the dust cleared, the easier it was to see who the lady was. Eliza could now see the full features of the woman.

She froze up, recognizing that face.

It was a lot older than before – she'd grown.

She could recognize that face anywhere.

It was his sister.

And she was working for the Millennium Earl.

"Ooh! Look at how that went! The Earl's masterpiece really is a masterpiece! This is spectacular!" The pink one clapped its hands, a loud laughter erupting from his mouth, "Damn, that must have hurt! That was such a pathetic attack against the Mistress!"

"They've got her angry…" The blue one winced, pretending to bite its nails.

"…The other girl is looking." Finally, the last one spoke. His arms were crossed, showing the redness in the sun that had started to slowly come down.

"The other girl?" The other two level 3's questioned. They both looked down at the battlefield and saw half of the hammer duo staring at the Mistress.

"What the hell? Is she stoned or what? I thought the only thing she could do was kill the weaklings!" The blue one exclaimed, "Why isn't she attacking the level 2's?!"

"Shut up! That's not the case here, you idiot! Look where she's looking!" The pink one elbowed its companion.

"Dammit don't elbow me!" Its eyes stared down at what Eliza was staring at, "What? She's only staring at the Mistress. Nothing special."

"She recognizes her." The red one spoke up, authority in its voice.

"How?"

The red one paused, before its mouth curled up into a wicked smile, "Because she was the one that had drove her brother to his death, and she brought him back."

Lavi crushed one beneath him, jumping off the moment it detonated. He puffed and twirled the hammer's handle around his fingers, slamming down on the few last akuma there were. They seemed to be disappearing slower than usual, it was strange. If Eliza was also fighting, then there should be none by now.

Upon thinking Eliza's name, Lavi glanced over to his companion, but saw that she was standing still, holding her Innocence without much grip in the hand. She seemed to be frozen, staring straight at the woman in white. Why was she staring?

"ELIZA!" Lavi shouted. He ran to her. She didn't have any reaction whatsoever. He waved a hand in front of her face, but yet again, no reaction. Then, he shook her shoulders, calling her name over and over.

"Stop it!" Eliza shoved Lavi off from her and stared with wide green eyes at the woman.

Lavi showed surprise as he hit against the ground, feeling that his backside would become sore later. He pushed himself up and froze when he saw the expression on Eliza's face.

"Eliza…?"

"T-This person…" She murmured, lips quivering.

"**So you finally remember me."** The woman had a strange voice, a voice as if it was a combination of two voices.

Eliza's lips moved slowly, hesitant to say the name of the person who hated her so much. It came out only as a whisper, but everyone could hear it.

"Arcana…"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Arcana…" Eliza whispered, doubt crossing every corner of her mind.

"**What? Are you that surprised to see me?"** She ripped off the torn part of the dress and the sleeves of the top, making her look like a fighter in a war.

"…What are you doing here…? Why are you here?!" Eliza's voice rose louder and louder. Her green eyes didn't have any charisma in them, they were dead set with shock and disbelief.

"**Hmph. Why don't we save the little talk for later? Perhaps up into the heavens? NO. NOT HEAVEN. HELL! After all—"** In a split second, that person was in front of Eliza, the nails of the hand gleaming with evil, ready to strike, **"—you're going to die."**

Eliza's couldn't track that person's movements, they were all too fast. She couldn't react in time. She was in shock since she'd seen that person's face. She thought she'd died.

"ELIZA! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" Lavi jumped in, hoping that he would save her in the nick of time.

Allen and Lenalee stared at them. The Crown Clown user saw the other hand's nails grow longer nad sharper, combing together to look like what seemed a sword made of the arm. He saw Lavi running in to Eliza. Jumping up, he left Lenalee. He was going to stop them. He had to. Or else they'd both die.

"Eh. Oh my. What the hell happened?" The blue one peered down, watching as the Mistress and the black haired lady engage in a somewhat one sided battle. He saw the red haired and white haired both jump in, trying to stop an attack. "Now that's just useless."

"Just let them try. Nothing is going to happen anyway. She's truly something. I mean, not 'she'…but 'it'." The pink akuma shrugged.

The red one laughed. "Yeah, yeah! 'It'! Not 'she'! Damn right."

"I can't believe the Earl actually thought of something like this!" The blue akuma whistled.

"Let's watch them continue fighting like insects! Hahaha!"

Lenalee's violet eyes couldn't help but widen as a ball formed in her throat at seeing her friends. It happened in a split moment. Just like how that woman attacked Eliza with her nails, this time was exactly the same. That speed, the strength…she wasn't an ordinary person.

How did Eliza know her? She mentioned her name as 'Arcana'.

"ALLEN! LAVI! ELIZA!" Lenalee shouted as both Allen and Lavi were slashed by the nails and arm. She held her gasp as Arcana moved in to kill Eliza.

"No…Not her…" Lenalee lip's trembled. "ELIZA!" She screamed.

"Oh damn. This is intense. I can't believe the Mistress is actually doing this. What on earth is she, I mean, 'it', thinking?" The pink one sighed. "That person's not fought others. Only stared."

"I wonder what it wants. Seems like it's only just warming up," The red level 3 commented. "Let's wait until it really goes all out. I can't wait to see this."

She moved with lightning speed. Eliza couldn't think. She only had one thing running through her mind.

_How was Arcana alive?_

Arcana's blade stopped just 1mm away from the exorcist's forehead. She wasn't hesitating, meaning that she could kill her at any moment.

Eliza heard the light thumping on the ground as Lavi and Allen fell over from the deep slash given to by the one enemy standing in front of her.

"**Why don't you move? You could easily save your own life."** Arcana spoke, somewhat pissed and annoyed.

"I…" The words didn't come out of her mouth. She truly did not know what to say.

"**I what? You're a disgrace. I taught you better than this,"** She retracted her blade so that it was in front of her.

"B-But…" Eliza froze. _What?_ There was something wrong. Something _very _wrong. "You taught me to be better than this? _You, _Arcana?" Eliza's green eyes widened.

Arcana's reply was a mixture of yes and no. It was both a male and female voice, but more distinct in highness and deepness.

Now Eliza knew. She knew exactly what was happening with Arcana. Why she was here. Why this happened. Why she sounded like 2 people.

She drew in a shaky breath. "You revived him, didn't you?" Arcana looked on, tilting her head. "But how? How did you manage to get both of your souls into that body?"

Arcana covered her mouth with her blade, her eyes holding a smile.

"Alyster and Arcana!"

"Damn! This is getting really interesting!" The pink akuma lay down in the air, kicking his feet up like a kid.

"Who's Alyster and Arcana?" The blue one asked.

The lighter colour turned his head over to the cooler colour akuma, an undeniable smirk on his features. "You weren't here when this happened, were you? You were still a small little level 1. You'll find out…soon."

"**Oh how nice of you to remember me."** The two voices echoed in Eliza's head. "**I can't believe believe you'd actually kill me, Eliza…after all I did for you."**

"W-what?! Alyster! That's not tr—" Eliza began.

"**Shut up, you witch."** Arcana's voice was louder and heavier. **"How could you kill him? I can't believe you, you stupid piece of shit! Can't believe you'd kill him and go off with his research notes!"**

"I-I…" Eliza was at a loss for words. She didn't know it'd come to this. That was completely wrong.

"**See? That explains it. You really were one big thorn. And I thought you were a nice girl. Oh, how wrong I was!"** Arcana's voice hissed.

Eliza's gripped onto her Innocence so tight that her knuckles were white. Why couldn't she understand anything?

"Stop it…" Lavi pushed himself up from the ground and held onto his Innocence, not caring about the blood flowing out of him.

"L-Lavi…" Eliza stuttered, watching in complete horror as the blood dripped quickly from his body and onto the ground. His face was pale and his eyes were pained, but he still moved. For Eliza.

"**And what right do you have from me talking to someone I know?"** They lifted their head up high, as if they were looking down on him. When they noticed that he didn't reply, they twitched and had the urge to slash at him again, with full force. **"I'LL KILL YOU!"**

Lavi saw the blade move. His was probably going to die. He looked at Eliza's direction. Her green eyes were full of worry, horror, fright and a mixture of all these other emotions.

_Dammit…don't have that look on your face…_

He looked at Lenalee, who was trembling as she made her way hastily over to Allen, watching Lavi's every move as she tended to Allen.

_Why the hell am I even doing this…?_

"NO! LAVI!" Eliza cried, reaching out to grab Arcana's arm.

Eliza was sweeped under the legs and she fell, loosening her grip on the arm and thus making Arcana able to move again.

The clash of what seemed like metal was heard. It was a loud, screeching noise, with powerful blue and white sparks coming from it, signalling the power of the defence and attacker were both great.

Eliza got a good look at the man that had stopped the blow, knowing full well who it was. A sense of relief rushed through her veins.

"Kanda!"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Kanda!" Eliza exclaimed, staring up at the long haired swordsman.

The clash of metals stopped and Arcana jumped back, cautious. Kanda held out his sword in front of him, standing in front of Lavi.

"**Who are you?"** Arcana demanded.

"You don't need to know my name." The dark haired swordsman glared.

"**Hmph. You sound like you've got a stick shoved up your ass!"** Arcana spoke in a sharp tone.

"Hah. Look who's talking." He spoke.

Almost as he did, a slash was given to Arcana and Alyster's body from the front, a gush of blood coming out and spraying to the ground.

"**Wah…" **Arcana's blue eyes widened and the body stumbled backwards, before balancing itself from the surprise attack, holding the wound and staring at the blood that had come out. Blue eyes looked up at Kanda, and her thin lips curled upwards, changing into a big and fanatic grin. She raised her hand up to her mouth and licked the blood, licking and smacking her lips afterwards.

Eliza felt ill in the stomach, feeling the aura of a maniac in front of her. This didn't seem like Alyster; it was more like Arcana.

"Eliza. Get Lavi and stay back." Kanda warned, eyeing Eliza.

She nodded immediately and moved quickly from near Arcana. She saw her move, and began to swipe at Eliza. Kanda's sword was by Arcana's throat in the next second, the shine blue and ready for cutting her down. Arcana's eyes narrowed.

Eliza quickly made her way to Lavi, putting his arm around her shoulder and trying to move him to another place where she could treat his wounds. Once she got him a safe distance away, she heard him groan.

"Lavi!" She began. Quickly glancing to where Allen was, she saw that Lenalee was helping him up. It looked like he could fight. Eliza felt anxious. Lenalee was ready to fight, too. Kanda was completely on his target.

"Eliza…" Lavi started.

"Shut up! Don't talk!" She snapped. She bit her lower lip, rushing to think of first aid to treat somebody. Quickly, she pulled his jacket off of him and looked at the shirt underneath, which was a basic t-shirt soaked in blood in the cut area. Pulling that shirt off of him, she squeezed that blood out and careful wrapped it around the wound, then taking her own jumper off and wrapping it around the already wrapped wound to hold it and to soak up more blood.

"There!" Eliza wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. She checked Lavi's temperature, and found that it was slowly getting colder, through the loss of blood. Her pulse quickened and she wished that they had already finished the mission. She didn't want someone to die over something like this!

After all, he tried to protect her.

But ultimately failed.

"Wow bro. That was intense." The pink one raised its arms and took a step back in the air.

"That guy with the sword just came in and saved the day. What nice timing he has." The blue one sighed.

The dark red level 3 akuma felt a great presence behind him and turned around, along with the other 2. They immediately bowed with respect to that person floating on air just like them.

"Now, now, what do we have here?"

"**Are you an acquaintance of Eliza?"** Arcana asked Kanda, eyeing the girl far behind him carrying the red head.

Kanda noticed that this person had the voices of each gender. He could feel the aura emitting from 'her', a dark one that resembled a Noah than an akuma.

"Acquaintance? See for yourself."

"…**What good sword skills you have. Is that Innocence?"** It asked, changing the subject entirely.

Kanda's dark eyes narrowed.

"**I guess it is! Ha! This is quite the fun I've had in ages**!" Arcana mused. "**Eliza's Innocence is like yours, too! I had to make it so that it would work for her – you know, she's such a fussy girl!"** The male voice of the two was now more dominant, making the long haired exorcist raise suspicions.

"Make it?" Kanda questioned, feeling that there was more behind its words than just that.

"**Yeah…that Innocence that she has right now—"** Big hands clasped onto Arcana's shoulders, and a big and long face with big teeth, glasses and a large hat appeared behind her.

Kanda tensed up, ready to fight.

"EARL!" Allen bellowed from behind.

The Earl turned its head around and looked at Allen, before quickly throwing Arcana over his shoulder and turning back to Kanda.

"They've told too much. They've had their fun." The Millennium Earl spoke in a voice that was quite comical, yet held authority in it as the head of akuma and Noah.

Eliza felt the Earl's stare at her from past Kanda. Her head began to throb and a pounding voice was imprinted into her head.

'_**WE'LL COME BACK FOR YOU.'**_

She shiver went down her spine from the loud voice inside her head. The Earl had disappeared off somewhere hurriedly, taking Arcana along with him.

"Aw man. No more?" The pink akuma complained.

"No more." The Earl replied.

The 5 of them disappeared from the sky, not glancing back at the damage that they've caused.

Akuma around the area disappeared along with the Earl, leaving the city like a ghost town, not a single soul there except for the few exorcists that had come to fight.

"Ugh…" Green eyes fluttered open slowly and stared straight at the blue sky, the weightless clouds drifting slowly above.

"Lavi? Lavi!" He heard a close voice nearby and searched to find the source.

It was Eliza.

"Eliza….?"

"Lavi! You idiot! I can't believe you actually went in and tried to act like a hero! You moron!" She raged, clenching her fists.

Lavi didn't respond; it was hard for him to with that gash on his body. He only stared at her.

"Sorry…"

"Sorry isn't enough! You nearly _died _out there, you complete stupid reckless idiot!" Eliza frowned at him.

Lavi wondered how many times she was going to say 'idiot'. Once was already enough for him to know that he was one.

"You're so stupid…" A stray tear rolled down her cheek, dropping onto Lavi's hand.

When she realized what had happened she stood up and quickly turned around, wiping her eyes as if there was a something in it. But it was only that tear that had come out – no others.

Lavi's mouth opened a tiny bit, and his eyes tried to peer at Eliza's face.

_What was that…?_

"Huh?" Eliza heard something, the sound of people running. She saw in the distance white uniforms that she recognized so well, knowing who they were immediately, "They're here!" She said in relief.

_Was she crying...just then?_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Are you sure that was an akuma?" Komui asked, creasing his eyebrows inwards as he adjusted his beret from the running he did.

Kanda nodded. "Yeah. Wasn't a Noah, though."

The Chief thought for a while, nothing coming to his head.

"It also said that it 'made' Eliza's Innocence." Kanda glanced at her from the side of his eye before it shifted back to the Chief.

"What? _Made?_" Komui questioned, now completely focused.

"Yeah. It had 2 voices, one male and the other female. Seems like the male counterpart 'made' it."

"If it was an akuma, it wouldn't have been able to make anything because Innocence would destroy it. Was this 'akuma' human before?"

"Chief! Allen's ok!" One of the finders waved his arm and caught his attention. Komui went over to Allen to talk to him while Kanda stared at one of the buildings, sensing something faintly there.

_Hm…_

Upon returning to the Order, Lavi was bedridden in the infirmary for days and Allen was discharged early before him. Lenalee had check-ups to see if there was any damage done to her organs or bones. Eliza would come in sometimes to check-up, too, but mainly to visit the others.

Lavi would greet her with his usual smile right after he had been taken to the infirmary, like something made him really happy. But Eliza just thought that he was happy from going back to the Order, instead of destroying all the akuma the day before, along with the encounter with _it_.

"I'm going to be discharged in a few days!" Lavi sighed in relief, grinning as the long haired woman sat next to the bed.

"You've already been here for a week already, you know that? I'm only visiting you because you have nothing better to do." Eliza shrugged.

"That guy was tough. The wound was pretty deep. I think. I dunno. The nurse told me that it would take a while to heal, and that I shouldn't do anything strenuous…" Lavi pointed at the bandaged wound on his body.

Eliza glanced at it briefly and sighed, remembering what Arcana, Alyster and the Earl said.

"Oh yeah, Komui wants to see you." Lavi piped up, remembering what the nurse told him. "The nurse told me to pass on the message. Said that it was urgent."

"Ah. Right. I'll go then." Eliza stood up and turned around, only to be grabbed by the wrist. "What?" She looked over her shoulder and glared at him. "You said I had to go, didn't you? Why're you stopping me?"

"Oh." His hand dropped and he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, I was bored and uh…your wrists looked small so I wanted to compare them to mine." He laughed nervously.

"What has being bored got do to from grabbing people by the wrists?" Eliza raised an eyebrow. "Well, now I know you have a wrist fetish. See ya."

Once Eliza was out the door, Lavi slapped his cheeks, wondering what the hell he was doing.

_Why the hell did I do that?!_

"You called, Komui?" Eliza sat in front of Komui's desk, sitting on the comfy chair provided.

"Oh, yes, Eliza. I wanted to ask you about last week's incident with the akuma in Rome. I'm sorry for sending you guys out to such a dangerous mission. At least there were no casualties," Komui gave her an apologetic expression, "I was informed that there was an akuma that looked very human like and was the cause of Allen and Lavi's wounds, and that the Millennium Earl was there, too."

Eliza cringed at the memory of the Earl's message.

"Did you fight that akuma?" The Chief asked.

"Not exactly…"

"How?"

"She tried to kill me, but didn't."

"…Why?" Komui's eyes narrowed and he found himself in deep thought. It seems as though Eliza wasn't saying something, "'She'? Does the akuma have a gender?"

"Ah – no, no, the akuma didn't have a gender," Eliza waved her hand in a sweeping motion, "But it was of both genders."

"How do you know this?" It sounded more like an interrogation now instead of just a talk.

"Because…" Eliza gulped, "It sounded like they had 2 voices. The body was of Arcana and both Alyster and Arcana's voices were spoken."

"Arcana and Alyster? Who're they?" Komui pressed, "Why didn't you tell me about them beforehand?"

Eliza was silent and fidgeted with her fingers.

"Did you personally know them?" He continued, "Why are they akuma?"

"…I don't know. I knew them. They were siblings." Eliza managed to tell him. It was hard to breathe now that she had a slip of tongue. This subject was sensitive for her to talk about, something that she wished to avoid. But there was no stopping Komui. He wanted to know and needed to know.

"Siblings? How did they turn into akuma? Do you know what happened?"

Eliza looked down onto her lap and clenched her hands into fists. He was going to continue throwing one question after another. Questions that she wasn't comfortable talking about.

"They…Alyster died and Arcana revived him…" Eliza glanced to the side, "And that's all I know."

Komui stared at her, studying the facial expression and body language. She was definitely hiding something. But what? He decided to switch the topic to give her a break.

"The Millennium Earl came by, didn't he?" He asked.

She nodded, "Yeah. He took Arcana away after she was dealt a blow by Kanda."

"Did he say anything to you?" Komui remembered the very moment that she cringed at the Earl's name before.

"He said…" Eliza pressed her lips together, "_We'll come back for you._"

Komui's eyes widened. That was a dangerous meaning behind that. The Earl wouldn't say that to her if she were normal. He narrowed his dark eyes.

Just what _was _this girl?

_I managed to get out of it without telling him much about Arcana and Alyster…_Eliza sighed, rubbing her forehead. It really hurt her head whenever she thought of this, it was something that she didn't want to remember, but she did. The incident completely shook her, thus imprinting it into her mind, deep at its roots so that she wouldn't ever forget.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, calming herself.

_Okay…it's better this way, Eliza. It's better this way. You don't have to tell anyone. Not a soul. Just did what you did to him back then and then it'll be all over._

"Allen?" Eliza peeked her head through the door to the training hall and saw that he was sparring with Kanda, attempting to thwack him with a wooden sword, but to no avail.

_No shit, bro…isn't Kanda the one with the better sword fighting skills? _

"ACK!" Allen hit the ground after being smacked from the side, and from the sound of it, it sounded painful.

"You make too many useless movements, Beansprout." Kanda pointed the wooden sword down at the white haired boy.

"Well…" A gleam shone from Allen's eye as his legs latched around Kanda's neck and shoulders, throwing him over. Soon enough, they were in a physical brawl.

Eliza sweat-dropped and scanned the room, seeing Lavi seated down and no Lenalee. Lenalee must've been doing some work for the Chief…

"Reddy!" Eliza called, walking in at a light pace. Kanda and Allen didn't even look up and continued fighting, leaving Lavi to laugh lightly.

"Hi." The red head grinned. He looked perfectly fine, but had some light clothing on to keep himself from the cold, and the usual bandaged chest.

"Didn't I talk to you earlier today? I thought you were going to be discharged in a few days, not now," Eliza poked him in the cheek, "Don't always have an excuse to go outside, idiot. Rest."

Lavi laughed, shaking his head, "I didn't ask to go out. I _snuck _out." He gave her a peace sign and poked his tongue out.

"Oh boy…"

_Where's the nurse when you need her?!_

'_Lenalee, find the file of 'Arcana'. Find the one that lists that she has a brother called 'Alyster'. Do you remember the face? I leave the task to you.'_

"Arcana…Arcana…" Lenalee mumbled lightly under her breath, searching the rows of documented files in the huge room.

At last, she found the Arcana folders, all stored in one box. She took it out and placed it onto the ground, before commencing to look through all the documents, trying to find if one of them had a brother called Alyster.

After a few documents, she found it. Her eyes widened as she scanned down the page, reading the article of Arcana. It was detailed and informative, holding secrets that Eliza possibly knew.

_Arcana March_

_Family: Younger sister of Alyster March_

_Status: Unknown_

_Stole Innocence from Black Order 8 years ago._


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_What? This can't be!_

Lenalee couldn't believe it. Somebody _stole _Innocence from the Order? How was that even possible? She scanned her eyes further down the page and kept reading.

_Infiltrated using an invisibility potion, made by Alyster March._

_Was caught for one hour before she escaped._

_Escape means unknown._

"A potion…?" Lenalee questioned. Were the potions similar to the stuff they made in the Science lab?

_I better look at Alyster's file then._

Lenalee looked for Alyster's file and found the box full with files. She found the file named 'Alyster March' and took it out, flipping through the pages.

_Alyster March_

_Family: Arcana March, younger sister._

_Was a former scientist of the Black Order for 2 years. _

_Killed by his subject, Eliza Rickards._

Lenalee re-read the whole passage, hoping that she wasn't reading things. But, no matter how many times she read it, it wasn't going to change.

"How…" She placed the boxes back into their respective spots and took the files, pinning them on the clipboard she had, closing it before she exited.

"Komui!" The Chinese girl called, "I'm coming in!"

"Did you do what I asked?"

"…" Lenalee was silent and walked straight into the office, placing the clip board onto his desk, "Look at this. This was before you became Chief."

Komui read the papers and his eyes widened. He had never known this.

"What? Arcana _stole _Innocence from the Order?" Komui said in disbelief.

"I thought that too," Lenalee frowned slightly, "Why did you ask me to get these files? Did you know that they were related to the Order in some way?"

"…Their names were really familiar, but I couldn't put my finger onto it. Eliza seems to be wrapped around this too, being a 'subject'." Komui pressed his lips together.

"Komui, what does that mean?" She asked.

"It means that she was a basically a scientific experiment. Alyster most likely used her as a test subject."

"Stop fighting, Kanda, Allen!" Eliza shouted. They didn't even listen, not even bothering to look, continuing to fight. But soon enough, their brawl ended and they sat at where Eliza and Lavi were.

Allen had more bruises than Kanda, who only had a few.

"What the hell, why did you guys even start fighting?" The female asked, looking at them with a questioned face.

Kanda and Allen met eyes and glared, before turning their heads and frowning. They didn't answer her question.

"Geez…" Eliza sighed.

Lavi poked her in the arm, catching her attention, "Hey, you remember that girl with the white dress? The one that caused this wound?"

"You mean Arcana?" She asked.

_This again…oh no._

The red head nodded, "How did you know her?" He asked.

Eliza froze up. She glanced at Allen and Kanda, finding that they were listening, waiting for an answer. Allen's stare was long his gentle grey coloured eyes were innocent; Lavi's stare was long and hard, waiting for her to answer him. But she felt a very cold and hard, somewhat irritated stare coming from her right side, from Kanda. He was full on glaring, his dark eyes seeming even darker with the shadow that had taken over them from him creasing his eyebrows.

"You knew her. Definitely. She was an akuma. Who was she trying to revive?" Lavi continued, "I know you know."

Eliza felt as if she was being burned with holes. She didn't want to tell them, yet she would probably get killed by Kanda if she didn't. She felt the continuing burn on her head and shivered. Yup, he'd probably kill her.

"Uhm…she and I were childhood friends." Eliza answered.

"Childhood friends? So before we found you right?" The red head questioned.

She nodded. Her memory went back to the time when she and Arcana were close, good friends.

_Shoulder length black hair floated in the warm breeze on a summer day. The heat wasn't strong, and the sun was shining brightly. Her green eyes gazed long and hard at the sky, watching as the weightless clouds drift by._

"_Hey, Eliza!" A girl's voice brought Eliza out of her dream world and back into reality. _

_Eliza stared at the girl that had interrupted her. She was possibly the same age as her but maybe a year or so older, which loose curly wavy brown hair. Her eyes were a beautiful blue, something that most dreamed of. The colour of the deep ocean._

"_Arcana…" Eliza spoke, glancing up at the clouds again._

"_Why are you always daydreaming?" Arcana sighed, "You're always looking up at the clouds! There's nothing to see, you know that?"_

_Eliza blew up her cheek and frowned cutely, crossing her arms as her emerald tinted eyes shifted back to her friend. _

"_Nup. Totally nothing to see. Except I want to see him…" Eliza sighed._

_Arcana blinked once, her baby blues then became understanding and happy, before she plopped herself down next to her friend and stared up at the sky together. _

"_Well he's not going to come anytime soon because he's back at the house! Come on, let's go!" Arcana jumped back up and dragged Eliza by the hand to her house, a small cottage by a beautiful field of flowers. _

"Hello! Earth to Eliza! You there?" Lavi waved a hand in front of her face.

She snapped out of it and laughed.

"Hm? What's so funny?" Both Allen and Lavi said simultaneously.

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it." She smiled.

"Hm…anyway, how about this 'Alyster'?" Lavi's eyes went dark.

"Alyster?" Eliza's green eyes widened and she couldn't help but feel panicked inside. She wasn't going to tell them anything about him.

Lavi felt pissed. On Eliza and his first mission together, there was someone called Alyster that made him go somewhat mad because Eliza was all about him. But now, he was thinking something else, not just about that one sided situation from before.

This was different. After the 'discovery' of Arcana, he'd been thinking. Thinking long and hard about what the relationship between she and Arcana was, and Alyster too. She did mention his name along Arcana's, he clearly remembered.

"_**Alyster and Arcana!"**_

What was he going to do now? She was completely avoiding his questions. It was obvious. What was he going to do to get it out of her?

He was thinking about something, remembering her previous reactions of complete and utter denial. A small smirk called onto his lips - if fear wasn't going to work, then this probably would. He only assumed that fear wouldn't work, because she'd use her strength, or Innocence to hit him.

"Eliza…" Lavi leaned in closer to her, slowly. He was right in front of her face, and their green eyes met at close range, "I know you know about Alyster."

Eliza could feel his breath fan out on her face. It smelt like peppermints. A whole lot of strong ones, too. Her eyes went a tiny bit watery from the mint.

"Alyster? He was just someone I knew! An old friend, that's all!" She replied, staring back at his green eyes.

"Oh really?" Lavi leaned in so that they were so close, close enough that their noses were touching. He turned his head slightly to the side and his left hand touched her cheek, "I know you know."

By now, blood had rushed to Eliza's face. She had no idea what the idiot red head was doing, but he was too close.

_Way too close for comfort._

As she felt his hand on her cheek, she clenched her fist, shaking in anger and embarrassment, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" She shouted, punching him square in the face. He was sent flying to the other side of the training hall, bloody from the nose.

Eliza's cheek burned a chalky pink, evident to see. Kanda and Allen stared on. What the hell did they just see? What the hell was Lavi doing?

Allen looked over to Eliza with a surprised face, giving her the thumbs up. She saw, but dismissed it, feeling her heart thundering in her chest. She whipped around and stomped out, cursing at Lavi.

Kanda and Allen looked at each other, then at Lavi.

"What did he do?" The long haired man asked.

"…be an idiot." Allen replied, grinning cheekily.

Kanda gave him a weird stare. Why were all the people around him all weirdos?

"Urk…wrong idea…" Lavi moaned, feeling the pain from the ultimate punch on his cheek. That was one powerful punch.

Her blushing face crept into his mind, and without knowing, his own cheeks dusted pink.

_She was so cute._


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

When their eyes made contact later in the day, Eliza would whip her head around with an annoyed expression, along with a light blush. Lavi would stare on, wanting to apologize, but she never gave him a chance. What the hell did he do wrong?

"Hey Eli—" Lavi started.

Eliza saw his red hair, green eyes and his mouth moving. She turned around, going the opposite direction, going to where the secluded Kanda was. She completely ignored the red head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kanda glared at the shorter girl.

"Getting away from a sexual offender." Eliza crossed her arms and pouted.

"Lavi, don't worry, she'll talk to you soon." Allen said, standing five meters away from the corner that Lavi was in. He'd been in the corner for so long that gloomy mushrooms were growing there already.

"She hates me…" Lavi moaned, feeling down and depressed. Tears hung from his eyes.

"WHY DON'T YOU KEEP TRYING THEN?!" Lenalee kicked Lavi out of his corner. He flew up high in the air, over Allen, and into the ground, making a huge sound when he did.

Later as the smoke and dust cleared, Lavi was seen climbing out of the hole he had made, coughing.

Lenalee stood in front of him, holding her hips and standing with authority. Allen was behind her, looking on as if it was an everyday thing.

"If you want to apologize, then go do it! You're a man, aren't you? MAN UP!" Lenalee scolded, furrowing her eyebrows and intensifying her glare on the red head.

Lavi's eyes widened. This was one of the firsts. Lenalee was shouting at him.

"If she's avoiding you because of something that happened between you two, then go and apologize if you think you've done something wrong! Cause judging by what's happening, you're the culprit!" She pointed down at him.

"Uh…ok." Lavi gulped. He got up and began to dust himself off.

"GO. NOW." She demanded, pointing.

"O-Ok!" Lavi ran off, feeling the glare of her on the back of his head, drilling a hole through.

_Eep! _He mentally screamed.

"Oh wow…such pretty birds." Eliza commented, hugging her legs as she stared up at the trees adorned with colourful birds. She was in the garden of the Order, but an artificial one that looked so real that it could be passed as one. She always went there for comfort, and to daydream when she wasn't on a mission.

"If only they hadn't died…" She whispered, resting her head on her knees. She had gotten past how Lavi was and just ignored him for fun, for her own amusement. On her mind now was why she was alone, why they weren't here with her.

She had thought, Allen, Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda all had great friends around them that have been there for them for a long time, or have been there for them when the times were rough. She'd let them in their circle, but, it didn't erase any memories of the other two that still lingered in her mind.

"_Eliza! This is Alyster! He's my older brother!" A younger Arcana pointed to her older brother. _

_He had just brought the pie from inside the kitchen and was about to eat it at the table when he was interrupted. He had the same eyes and hair as his sister, but it wasn't curly, but straight and short, just barely covering his eyes. His blues were a much prettier colour than Arcana's, a deeper shade that Eliza loved._

_Alyster's lips curled into a smile and he waved, "Hi! You're Eliza, right?" He asked._

_She nodded, shy. He was a good looking boy for his age, and had one of the nicest smiles she's ever seen. He was taller than both her and Arcana, but not by too much. _

"_Thanks for being a good friend to my sister," He ruffled Eliza's dark hair, "I'll be upstairs if you two need me." He went over to the stairs and went up. _

_Eliza stared after him, her hand rising to the top of her head, her cheeks burning pink._

"_Let's get some stuff to eat!" Arcana said, going into the kitchen. She went off quickly, stomach rumbling. _

_Eliza patted her hair down, remembering the feel of his hand on her head. She combed her hair with her fingers, and heard her friend's voice._

"_Eliza?! What do you want to eat?"_

"_Ah! I'm coming! I'll choose myself!" Eliza said it loud enough so that she could hear._

_She shook her head and touched her cheeks, they were burning. She felt warm. She patted her cheeks with her cold hands in an attempt to cool them down and went to Arcana._

"Eliza?" Lavi spoke, looking around the 100th corner in the Order. He sighed when there was no sight of her. It was hard enough that the place was so big, but she was only one person, exactly how hard was she to find?

"Ugh! I can't find her!" Lavi shouted, throwing his head back.

He stared at the ceiling. It was dark. His nostrils picked up a nice floral scent, and immediately he thought of the garden.

_I haven't checked there yet!_

He quickly made his way to the garden, weaving through doors and hallways, eventually making his way there. He noticed that the door was partly opened, and wondered if anyone was inside. He took one step in and was again awed by the beauty of the artificial garden. He nearly forgot to look around, and his head turned to the right and the left, until he saw a figure on one of the benches.

"Eh?" He blinked and went in; walking closer to the person, only to realize that the person was none other than Eliza, curled up in a ball, hugging her knees, her hair all over her face that he couldn't see it.

"Eliza?" He crouched down and brushed the hair gently from her face, seeing that he eyes were closed. He saw that her eyelashes were long and thick, and her skin was flawless and smooth. His green eyes moved on to her lips as he examined the lines on them, finding that they were small yet plump and so, very kissable.

Unconsciously, he leaned closer and caressed her cheek with his hand, brushing his lips against hers ever so lightly, before he jerked himself back to reality, quickly moving back and holding his forehead, mentally punching himself for being so impulsive and lust driven.

_What the hell was I doing…?_

He looked back down at Eliza's sleeping figure and exhaled slowly, before taking off his jumper and placing it around her body, as a blanket.

He walked over to the door and looked back once.

_I'll apologize to her tomorrow._

As he left, Eliza stirred in her sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Mmm…" Eliza moved in her slumber, the jacket falling off her body. She heard it hit the ground and immediately her eyes opened. She looked down and saw the jumper there. She still had hers on, but who could've put it there? She pressed her feet on the ground and picked up the black jacket.

"That's weird…" She looked at the jacket, feeling a somewhat warm.

_I could swear I know who this jacket belongs to…but, I don't at the same time?_

"**Why the hell did you do that? You interrupted my battle with them!"** An angry Arcana/Alyster snapped at the Millennium Earl.

The first Noah simply just stared at his creation and sighed, "I've achieved my goal, that's why I interrupted you."

"**What goal?!"**

"I wanted Eliza to remember that you are still in this world, that you are not in her grasp anymore. That way, I can get what I want faster." The Earl's teeth glistened.

Arcana's blue eyes stared at the Earl, then she huffed and turned around, staring at the 3 level 3 akuma that had tagged along.

"**What the hell were you even doing there?"** Murderous intent formed straight at them, but they were neither scared nor frightened of her.

"We were going to have some fun…" One of them started.

"**Fun?"** Arcana's eyes enlarged and the veins popped in her wrists and neck

"Haha yea—" The pink one spoke but was smashed against the wall, Arcana's fist in the stomach area.

"**SHUT UP."** Moving away, the akuma dropped to the ground on its 2 feet.

Arcana had already disappeared by the time the pink akuma had looked up. It looked at the damage that it had taken, and saw that there was a large dent in the middle of the body.

"You're lucky she hasn't killed you yet." The Millennium Earl sung.

"Talk about power…"

"Hey Allen, do you know who…" Eliza started, about to show Allen the jacket. But then, what caught her eye was someone who wasn't wearing one.

And it was none other than Lavi.

"Eliza?" Allen questioned.

"Uhm, I'll get right back to you in a second," She went towards Lavi, "OI REDDY! YOU THERE! STOP!"

Lavi turned around with a raised eyebrow, "Huh?"

But when he saw it was Eliza, his heart started to thump loudly against his chest, as if it wanted to burst.

_What's happening?_

"Hey, Lavi! You're not wearing your jacket. Is this yours?" Eliza asked, holding it out to him.

Lavi gulped and glanced down at it. He swore she could hear his heart beating loudly. But why was this happening?

"So is this yours or not?" She asked.

_Act normal…_

"I saw you sleeping on the chair and wanted to make it look like I did a good thing." He managed to get out.

"What?"

"I mean you looked cold so I uh, put one on you since you were sleeping?"

"Why make it sound like a question?"

"Uhm…"

"Ok, whatever, so is this yours or not?" She asked.

"Yeah…it is." He answered, sighing and rubbing the back of his head.

Eliza handed it to him, and for the brief moment that he took it, their hands brushed, creating a static of electric current go through Lavi's body. He managed to act normal as Eliza said bye and went away back to talk to Allen.

Immediately thinking that something weird was happening to him, he mentally punched himself.

Arcana smashed the nearest thing closest to her, crushing the remaining glass in her hand into tiny specs that could be mistaken for glitter. Both Alyster and Arcana felt frustrated and annoyed, especially at the akuma that had talked back to them, and most of all, at Eliza.

"**STUPID WOMAN!"** This time it was Arcana shouting, kicking the wall, making a dent in it.

'_Why are you so mad?' _Alyster's voice rung through their head.

'_**Because…because she killed you!**_**'** Arcana replied, feeling anger bubble up from the memory that had stained her mind red.

Alyster sighed, _'Why do you hold a grudge from that?_'

"**BECAUSE SHE TOOK YOU AWAY FROM ME**!" Destroying the bed in the room, she felt the need to keep destroying things until she was satisfied. But how much stuff, no one knows.

"**That time…that time when I saw you and her…it was a nightmare!"** She covered her face with her hands, letting her knees drop to the ground.

Alyster could feel the emotions of his sister, but said nothing of it, and probed through the memories she had. The one that flashed before his eyes was short and indeed nightmarish, something he didn't know had happened in the short time he died and his sister arrived.

_Footsteps were heavy on the cobblestoned ground as the wavy brown haired girl rushed to the house. She had heard male shouts from the house, a scream, which sent shivers down her spine. It felt even worse when she had the sinking feeling in her stomach that something really bad was going to happen. _

_Slamming the door open from the outside, she hurriedly looked in to the 'lab' that her brother was in, the one he built for himself. But she didn't see much lab items. Instead, it was hard to see. _

_She gasped as she could smell something foul in the air, rustic and metallic. Opening the door wider, her blue eyes widened big and wide and lips parted in shock. She could taste it in the air. The disgusting smell of blood, splattered all over the ground._

"_Ah…" _

_Someone made a sound. Arcana shuffled to the side, looking in at a clearer view, but instantly regretted it. On the ground stabbed to death in his midsection was Alyster. His arm was reached out to Arcana's direction, cold and blue. Standing above him with a knife in her hand with freshly coated blood was the best friend that had fallen in love with her brother. _

"_E…Eliza…" Arcana managed to whisper. _

_Slowly turning her head to the side, Eliza's frightened green eyes took hold of Arcana. Arcana searched them, wanting to know if she had really killed him. Did she?_

"_Arcana…Arcana….I…I…" Eliza's fingers loosened and she dropped the knife onto the ground before sprinting out and bumping her to the ground._

_Hitting the ground, Arcana was close to the body. She didn't feel the pain from falling down and was completely focused on the body instead. She could see open eyes, blue in colour, staring at her with no emotion, no fear, no happiness, no life…nothing._

_Seeing her brother like this tore her up from inside, the feeling of coldness filled her heart. She had cried her eyes out that night, as the grey clouds rolled in and the lightning began to thunder. _

"_Do you want him back?" A big, large, shadow loomed over Arcana. _

_Without any hesitation, she nodded. She saw a humungous smile with sharp teeth shine._

"_Why don't you call out his name with all your heart? After all, you can bring him back, can't you? He'll be alive again!" The voice was taunting yet persuasive, and she took the option of taking back her brother from the dead._

_The big, round, shadow produced a big skeleton, dark grey in colour with a star on top of its head. It was motionless, unmoving._

"_Call out to your brother, sweet young one!"_

"_ALYSTERRR!" _

_Suddenly, a huge bolt of light entered the skeleton, and the name 'Alyster' was carved on the skull as it began to move. _

"_WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME? WHY ARCANA?" It screamed with a voice that was distinctively Alyster's._

"_Alyster? Alyster? Is that you?" Arcana hiccupped. _

"_WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? You've made me into an akuma!" He continued to shout, fear in his voice, "He's going to make me kill you!"_

"_Huh?" Arcana froze. _

_The shadow was now in her field of vision, and she saw a big round man with a huge long face, wearing a funnily decorated top hat. _

"_Now…take her skin." She could see the death in his eyes as she felt the fear inside her awaken. _

"_W-w-w-what?" She stumbled, looking over at Alyster, "N-No! Y-You wouldn't!"_

"_I'm sorry…" With that, the akuma skeleton had taken the 'skin' of Arcana. _

"_Now now now…" The Millennium Earl clapped his hands and grinned, "You're not entirely dead yet, Arcana dear. You see, I made this akuma specially for you, my dear princess. You're to keep your individual memory, and live on forever in the same body as your brother. Both of you are together now. Aren't you happy?"_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Over by the walls, Allen and Eliza raised an eyebrow in question of what the red headed man was doing.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Allen asked, pointing to Lavi.

"I thought there was always something wrong with him…" Eliza pressed her fingers against her forehead, sighing in annoyance.

"So is that why he's like a machine, hitting his head on the wall without stopping?" The white haired exorcist asked.

"Uh huh. He's kind of stupid. Let's leave him that way." Eliza turned around and strutted off, not caring at all about Lavi's situation, "Come on, Allen!"

"**I was so ANGRY!"** Arcana growled, crossing her arms. Her anger was really evident, and one could almost see the smoke coming out of her mouth, like an angry dragon.

'_Because the Earl said that?' _Alyster questioned.

"**Well, what else?! Stupid shit…" **

'_At least he didn't kill you.' _Alyster mumbled.

"**What was that?"**

'_Nothing, nothing.'_

_Knock, knock, knock…_

There was a knock on the door, catching the attention of the female, "What?"

"The Earl told me to tell you that you've got another mission. He says that you need to go with Hunter to your origin and find an object."

"**Eh? I just came back from a mission though."**

"He says it's urgent."

"**Psh. Fine. Whatever. I'll go see him now."** Arcana stood up and pushed the door open, finding that the messenger had already disappeared.

"Hey, Earl, why're you so happy right now?" Road asked, jumping onto the back of the head of the Noah.

"Haha! I'm nearly at my goal!" His teeth shone brightly.

"Which goal is this one?" The petite female popped a candy drop into her mouth.

"Double A."

"Ooh! That one!" Road licked her lips. "It's sure taken a long time, huh?"

"Yes…I'll soon have that acquired power…very soon." An eagle flew to his side, landing on top of his head. It cawed. "Hunter. Soon you'll go on a mission with Arcana and Alyster! Aren't you happy?"

The eagle cawed yet again.

Making her way to the Earl's room, Alyster wondered what the Earl wanted them to get. He thought long and hard, scanning through the imprinted picture of his work space in his head.

'_The Earl came just before Eliza dealt the killing blow. Why was he there?'_

His mind wandered, thinking back to the time just before he was killed – those memories were so fresh, so _real_, imprinted into his very head, but he couldn't remember what happened after Eliza stabbed him.

_Alyster was sitting at his desk, his slightly longer brown hair covering the sides of his face as he was focused on his research. He was writing really fast, dipping his ink in quickly before using it all away. He was so close to finishing. _

_His blue eyes looked around quickly, feeling as if there was another presence with him in the room. But, he paid no heed to that and continued on. He only needed a few more lines then he would be done. _

"_Are you done yet?" A deep, comical voice spoke. _

_Surprised by the sudden loudness of another's voice, he spun around and came face to face with a large man, with a huge belly, humungous teeth and weird inhuman eyes, along with a hat decorated with the bones of the deceased._

_He felt frightened, feeling it to his very bones. For some reason, he felt as if something really bad was going to happen. Cold sweat was already trickling down the side of his face and his palms were sweating._

"_Who _are _you?" He demanded to know. _

_How could someone go into his house so quietly, so easily? This man was something else._

"_Alyster dear, I've been watching you for a while now."_

"_I asked: Who are you?" The brown haired young adult repeated, narrowing his eyes slightly. _

"_I am the Millennium Earl. You have something I want."_

"_You…want?" _

"_Yes. Those research notes." _

"_What?"_

"_I want your research notes. Hand them over."_

"_No!"_

"_I'll ask you one last time. Give me those research notes."_

"_I said no!"_

"_You leave me no choice." The Millennium Earl clicked his fingers together and there was a stepping noise coming from behind the big body._

_When he could see the person's face, Alyster's eyes widened with astonishment, at the person holding a knife straight at him, hands shaking, green eyes wide with fear._

"_Eliza, dear…why don't you go take a stab at him?"_

_He couldn't do anything, as the girl went towards him with the knife._

"**You've been real quiet."**__Arcana spoke to Alyster.

Alyster was a bit surprised when his sister spoke to him. _'Eh? What's wrong?'_

"…**nothing, nothing." **Arcana narrowed her eyes. Something was up.

_Best not to talk about it._

'_I don't know what happened after I was stabbed. What happened?'_ Alyster thought long and hard, shielding his thoughts from his sister.

'_Why can't I remember them?'_

"Ah. You've come. Arcana. Alyster. I've got a job for you." The Millennium Earl spoke upon seeing them enter through the grand entrance of the room. Road slid behind the master, hiding from the newcomer.

"**What do you want?"**

"Now now, don't sound so mean to your daddy!" The Earl joked.

"…**What the hell…?"** Arcana rolled her eyes and asked again, **"What do you want?"**

"I need you two to go to your village and seek out Alyster's research notes."

Alyster's ears perked as he heard the words.

'_My research notes!'_


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"You're to take Hunter with you, just in case." The large eagle flew off the Earl's hand and fluttered elegantly onto Arcana's shoulder.

She grunted at the sudden weight, but remained with her arms crossed, **"I leave now, I presume?"**

The Earl nodded, and with that, she was off.

"I should really stop…" Lavi sighed with his head against the table, "I feel like an idiot…"

He remembered all her facial expressions, all the angry, pissed, embarrassed and stoic, sarcastic ones…

_WHY THE HELL AM I THINKING ABOUT HER?!_

He smashed his head against the table like he did with the wall and thought over and over again, _'Shut up, Lavi!' _

The workers of the Black Order stared at him with wonder and amazement at how he kept managing to do that without destroying his head.

"**We're here."** Arcana's eyes scanned the area of her old village, finding that mostly everything was the same. She saw her home in the distance and narrowed her eyes.

Walking past the other homes that were there and the newly built ones, she found that there were a lot more people there than before. She kept to herself and didn't hear Alyster talk either as they approached their home.

It was ragged and worn, some wood dropping from the roof and supported with only one or two nails. The grass had grown a considerable length and was half the size of the house, if not, longer, since the wind had made its shape by blowing a certain way.

"**Alyster, your notes are in your lab, right?"** The brunette asked her brother.

Alyster only replied with a short, '_Yes.'_

Hunter's big brown eyes stared down at the person who it sat on, watching for any reaction. There was none.

Upon entering Alyster's old lab, Arcana could smell the stench of very _rotten_ blood. It must've been Alyster's, since no one else had been killed here and the accident long ago wouldn't have been cleaned up.

"**Urgh. Smells revolting."** She scrunched up her nose and walked in, going to the windows to open them up and let the air and light in.

Once there was enough light, the female could see that the lab seemed the same, except for the bloodied floor and desk. The floor, other than blood, also had loose leafs of paper around, some soaked in blood and some not. The desk, on the other hand, had seemed messier than usual, maybe from the struggle from when Eliza killed him. Arcana clenched her jaw.

"**Where'd you put the notes?"**

Alyster thought for a brief moment. On the way there, he was thinking long and hard about it. But he never arrived at an answer. Alyster's head began to throb, a piercing pain at the back of his head. It hurt like hell, but Arcana didn't feel it.

"_Eliza?! What are you doing here?" Alyster's blue eyes went wide with shock. _

_The Millennium Earl just grinned like he ridiculously did, showing off those humungous teeth of his, "Isn't she just lovely?" He asked with an amused tone._

_The man ignored him, his thoughts only on Eliza, "Eliza! Eliza, put down the knife!" He pleaded, writing down a few more words onto his notes before they were finally finished. He threw the pen to one side and shut the book._

"_A-Aly…ster…" The green eyed female stammered. Her eyes were clouded with only one emotion, fear, "W-What are you doing?"_

"_Eliza, what are _you_ doing?" The man looked to one side, then looked to the other. There was only one way of escape. And that was the way that he normally came in by. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, ready to sprint off at any minute._

_Unfortunately, the Earl saw what he was trying to do. He shook his head and wagged a finger in front of the researcher, bemused laughter dripping off his words, "There is no way to escape. This will be your deathbed unless you hand over those notes."_

_Alyster clenched his teeth and grabbed his book, before sprinting to the door. But on the way there, he felt an excruciating pain go up his left side. He let out a strangled gasp and looked to the side, seeing the top of a head. _

"_Eliza…you…" He let out a few words, sweat dripping down his brow as his arm shakily moved towards the dagger. His blues stared straight at the loose hands on them and gently moved them away, like he normally did. _

_Eliza's eyes were wide, her hands were shaking and her face was pale. What had she done? She tumbled backwards and stared at the wound she had inflicted upon her love, her mouth opening like a goldfish with no words coming out. She moved forward and reached to the dagger, wanting to pull it out after seeing the expression of pain on the man. _

"_A-Alyster…" She choked on her own sobs. _

"_That's strange…" The Earl leaned his head to the side while scratching his hat, pretending it to be his head, "I thought she was under my control."_

_Alyster, the colour draining from his face, glared at the Noah, "If you're planning to use a potion or brew or whatever you used to control her, it won't work. I was the one who made those potions…and I am the one…that knows how to change them back to normal." He spoke his words harshly, then his eyes went down to Eliza._

_She was staring at the pool of blood that had formed around his feet, dripping down from his wound and down his legs, to the ground. It was a deep, dark red. Her lips quivered._

"_Eliza…I want you to pull this out."_

_The moment that came out of his lips, she refused, "No, Alyster! I-If I do…you…you'll…you'll die!" She cried._

_Alyster beckoned her to come closer. She hesitated but walked a few steps forward. He whispered to her, "Eliza, I'll be seeing you. Make sure to keep these notes safe." He patted her head and ruffled her hair, giving her the smile that she loved. Even with the paleness of his face and the warmness fading from his hands, he had somehow made it sound convincing. _

_He gently pushed the book to one of her hands and took the other one, really quickly, to pull out the dagger. Eliza was in shock. Alyster howled out in pain and crumpled over, the pool of blood expanding. _

"_Alyster!" The green eyed female stared at the dagger in her hands and Alyster, then back again. Her heart began to crack as she witnessed the death of her loved one. _

"_Eliza…run…" Alyster's last words came out in a low whisper, one that Eliza only heard. _

_She stared one last time at Alyster, tears dripping down as she began to break, and was about to go when she saw her sister by the doorway, blocking her major entrance out. _

_She ran off the other direction, the expression of the younger one imprinted in her mind as she escaped from the horrible place that gave nightmares._

_The Earl giggled as he flew off in the distance with his trusty umbrella Lero._

"Ah…" Eliza looked through her belongings, trying to find some new clothes to wear if she were ever to go into town. She wanted to go soon to get some things. She went through nearly all her clothes except for the last one. When she peered at it with her curious green eyes, she found that it was wrapped around something, something that was rectangular and square, almost like a book. She grabbed hold of it and unwrapped it, wondering why she had something wrapped up in her clothes case.

When she did, however, her chest tightened. She winced in slight pain and read the only words written on the first page.

_Alyster March._

"Eliza?" Lavi asked, peeking his head into said girl's room. He saw her staring at a book with wide eyes and still arms. She was just staring. She almost resembled a statue.

He went in closer called her name out gently a few times, before shaking her on the shoulders to try and wake her up from her trance.

"Oi!" He called her. A tear trickled down her cheek and he gasped, wondering if he did anything wrong. He gulped and looked at the page she was on, reading the contents.

His eyes widened, then narrowed, and he frowned.

"That guy, huh…" He whispered under his breath, sighing. He took the book from her hands, and surprisingly enough, nothing happened. He closed it and shoved it in the open clothes draw and slammed it shut, putting it somewhere before focusing his attention back on the girl.

"Eliza, Eliza!" Lavi said.

Eliza's green orbs met his. Her eyes were full of unreadable emotions, ones that Lavi couldn't decipher. She rubbed her cheek to wipe off the tears and looked to the ground, before slowly getting up and walking away.

Lavi followed, and upon seeing her shrinking shoulders, grabbed her wrist to stop her, "If you have something on your mind, you can tell me. I'll be here for you."

It was silent after he said it, and those words went around in his head a few times before the blood rushed to his face, making it red.

Eliza turned around, her facial expression amused and about to burst out in laughter, "You're still holding my wrist." She stated.

He let go and jerked back, hiding his face from her. She let out a bark of laughter, making him look back at her. She looked happy, but he could see, there was still sadness there, even if she did laugh.

"Alright. You four are going to Germany!" Komui said happily, throwing some confetti into the air.

The four exorcists were silent and didn't speak a word, too awed for the Chief's dumbness.

Komui cleared his throat and gave them the mission information, "Right. So there's a forest in Germany and it's been said that this certain forest has lots of akuma activity. A few people going through there to go to the other side have been missing. A few finders were there to find out what had happened and to report akuma sightings, but we haven't heard a word from them yet. I would like you to all investigate and destroy all akuma there if there is, and collect Innocence if that's the source. Are we clear?"

The four nodded, and with that, they were off.


End file.
